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PRIZE ESSAY. 



J'rflntenac, '$tmm i' '§M\^im, 



To wliicli was awarded a Prise of £100, 



BY 



O. ^^. COOFER, 

BAREISTER-AT-LA\f .' ' ' '"' ' 



"I Sketch from Nature, and my Draft is true.'' 

"ESSE QUAM VIDERI." 



KINGSTON: 

JAHBS a, OBEiaHTOKT, BOOK & JOB PlilNTBIt. 

1850. 






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P R E F A. C E 



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The object of tlie following Essay is to bring more 
prominently before tlie public than lias yet been done, tlie 
features and resources of the United Counties of Froutenac, 
Lennox and Addington. In the popular tide of Emigra- 
tion westward to localities where lands are supposed to be 
cheaper and more fertile, the value and resources of these 
Counties have, in a measure been overlooked, and their 
real features from causes which may be suggested and 
briefly glanced at in the following pages, have been mis- 
represented and misunderstood. 

To remove such misunderstanding, and to present to 
the reader in a concise and available shape, a sketch of the 
capabilities of this portion of the Province, together with 
an account of what it has already done, and an estimate of 
what it may fairly be expected to do, in the general march 
of improvement so rapidly developing the almost exhaust- 
less resources of Canada at large, has naturally been 
deemed an object of importance to all interested in any 
manner in the locality. With such an object in view, a 
few public spirited men took the necessary steps to procure 
Essays on the subject, from those whom leisure, inclination 
or hope of success in attaining the proffered prize, might 
induce to write. 

Some of these inducements have weighed with the 
writer of the following pages, and when the present under- 



vi PREFACE. 

talcing was proposed, lie at once determined to devote such 
time as lie miglit be able to command, and his best energies 
to the task. In the arrangement of the subject it has been 
thought best to discuss : first, — the City of Kingston, 
its early history, its present condition, its claims and future 
prospects; to these arc added a sketch of its Public 
Buildings, Public Institutions, Trade, Manufactures, Com- 
merce and Financial state. The Counties generally, and 
the Townships separately, and in detail, have next engaged 
attention. The Geological features and Mineral produc- 
tions, the roads, the new lands opened up, and the features 
of the surrounding country have then been dwelt upon. To 
place these before the reader in a concise and interesting shape 
and at the same time to omit no important item of detail, 
has been the aim of the writer. Where reliable infor- 
mation could be obtained it is correctly given, and where 
such only as was not deemed positive was arrived at, it 
has been thought right to omit it altogether ; it being con- 
sidered preferable to make such omission, to alleging 
what was vague and uncertain. Whatever therefore may 
be the claims to the reader's consideration possessed by the 
following pages, they may be relied on as containing cor- 
rect and true statements. 



PRIZE ESS-^Y. 



THE UNITED COUNTIES. 

The United Counties of Frontenac, Lennox and Ad- 
dington occupy a tract of country fronting on the Eiver 
Si. Lawrence and an arm of Lake Ontario, extending some 
seventy miles Westward from its estuary, known as the 
Bay of Quiute. This tract is al3out 5Q miles wide, and 
extends Northward to the Madawaska Eiver, a distance of 
about 100 miles ; it lies between the parallels of 44 and 45 
N. lat., and 74 and 76 W. long., and is bounded on the 
South by the Eiver St. Lawrence and the Bay of Quinte ; 
on the North by the Madav.^aska Eiver ; on the East by 
the Counties of Leeds and Lanark, and on the West by the 
County of Hastiiigs. This tract from its situation was for- 
merly called the Slidland District. 

The City of Kingston is in the County of Frontenac, 
and lies in lat. 44° 12' N. : long. 75^ 41 W. 

THE CITY. 

At the head of the mighty St. Lawrence, where the 
united waters of the limpid Canadian seas form one gigan- 
tic stream under that name, stands Kingston, the capitol 
and chief feature of the Coimties of which we have under- 
taken to write; a city once deemed the first, and long 
looked on as the second, in Upper Canada : and, when no 
local influences swayed the choice, the seat of the Govern- 
ment of the Province, and possessing, perhaps, the strong- 
est claims of any amongst the many rivals for that dis- 
tinction. But to postpone all such reflections for the pre- 
sent, let us consider what can be said of the fair city be- 
fore us ; its past, its present, and its future : its history, 
its features and its prospects. 



6 PRIZE ESSAY. 

Kingston strikes the visitor as possessing sometliing 
peculiar in appearance even on a first view. Towns and 
Villages of a more rapid growth, which have sprung up in 
the recently settled parts of the Province, have few distin- 
guishing features ; where they stand, the forest has first 
disappeared, then the log house of the earlier settlers has 
been replaced by a cluster of white framed houses, with 
green Venetian blinds, which have grown up in many in- 
stances with Avonderful celerity. In the more pretentious 
Towns and Cities, these in turn have given place to red- 
brick houses and some showey shops and stores, but King- 
ston presents none of these features ; its aspect denotes it 
no city of a day ; its appearance tells us that it has a his- 
tory and a past, and such is truly the case. Yery early in 
the history of the country, the local advantages of the spot 
attracted the attention of its possessors. As far back as 
1672 the French Governor of Canada built, or rather com- 
menced, a fort where now stand the ' Tete du Pont' Bar- 
racks, (1) as a barrier against the Indian tribes, and as a 
depot for the supply of the more distant forts and stations 
in the event of war with the then neighboring provinces. 
A succeeding Governor completed it and gave to it his OAvn 
name, that which now denotes the County in which it 
stood — " Frontenac." This name the fort and settlement 
retained for many subsequent years. The lake and fort 
bore the same name for a time. "Celac a porte quel que 
" temps le nom de St. Louis, aussi bien qu le fort de Cat- 
"aroquoui dont le comte de Frontenac fut le fondateur 
"mais insensiblement le lac a repris son ancient nom, qui 
*' etait Huron or Iroquois, et le fort celui du lieu ou' il est 
"bati." (2.) 

It is worthy of remark that this is the only portion of 
Canada West which bears in its name any memorial of the 
early rulers of the colon}-. Mr Tache, in his Essay on 
Canada, does not fail to notice this circumstance. "De ce 
"point" (the County of Glengarry,) " le lectuer verra bien 

(1) " Monsieur de Courcelles originated the design of building the fort at 
Catarocuoy, but being recalled before it could be carried into execution, Mon- 
sieur de Frontenac carried out his plans in 1672, and gave his name to the fort. 
Lake Ontario also for a long time afterwards bore the name of Frontenac."— 
Charlevoix Tom 11, p. 245. 

(2) This lake at one time bore the name of Saint Louis, as also did Fort 
Cataraqui, of which Count de Frontenac was the builder, but gradually the 
Lake resumed its ancient name, which was Huron, or Iroquois, and the Fort 
that of the place where it was built, — [Charlevoix Tom v., p. 287. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 7 

*' qu'on a laisse le Canada Frangais, les noms chaiigent : 
" les emigrants des lies Britanniques eux aussi, ont le culte 
" des souvenirs ; les noms des comtes, des districts, sont 
*' des noms des localities de la vieille Angleterre, de I'lr- 
" lande, de L'Ecosse, ou bien des noms d'hommes qui oi^t 
" illustrc I'Empire britannique ou figure dans I'histoire 
" du Canada depuis la conquete. Un seul nom de comte 
" reste Frangais, celui de Frontenac." (1) Here the French 
well knowing the importance of the position, kept a strong 
garrison when the neighboring provinces (now the United 
States,) were in the hands of the English, and when the 
country changed rulers and passed into the possession of 
Great Britain, the spot continued to be looked upon as 
possessing great military and naval advantages. The'first 
fort erected was destroyed by the Five Nations Indians 
about the year 1686, and was rebuilt by Count Frontenac 
against the orders of M. dePontchar train, the French Minis- 
ter of the daj^. The after importance of the position fully 
justified Frontenac's opposition to the French Minister's 
wishes. The connexion between Canada and Louisiana 
by means of the chain of trading stations, or forts, built by 
the French under M. DeBeauharnois, between 1730 and 
1740, mainly depended upon the possession of Fort Fron- 
tenac, as was manifest upon its loss by the French. King- 
ston now stands on the site of old Fort Frontenac. Next 
to Quebec and Halifax it is considered the strongest mili- 
tary position in British America. Its geographical capa- 
bilities as a point of centralization were early acknowledged 
when the Province was in the hands of the French, both 
by them and hj its own native inhabitants. At the time 
of the conquest of Canada, Fort Frontenac was the general 
rendezvous of all the Northern and Western Indian na- 
tions ; the centre of trade, not only with the French, but 
also among themselves. Thither they repaired from all 
directions, even from the distance of 1000 miles, bearing 
with them their rich peltries with immense labour, to ex- 
change for European goods. These annual meetings of 

(I) From this point the reader will easily perceive that he has left French 
Canada ; the names change : Emigrants from the British Isles, as well as oth- 
ers, are fond of recollections ; the names of Counties and Districts are the 
names of places in Old England, Ireland or Scotland, or even the names of 
men who have shed lustre on the British Empire, or figured in the history of 
Canada since the conquest. The name of a single County remains French 
that of Frontenac. — [Esquiese Sur Le Canada par J. C. Tache: p. 29. * 



8 PRIZE ESSAY. 

the red men, however, had another object beside that Oi 
commerce. The events of the preceding year ■\7ere related 
and canvassed, and council held upon the conduct of the 
future. Here feuds were reconciled by the good offices of 
neutral tribes ; old alhances were strengthened and new 
ones arranged. 

Thus it will be seen this spot had early been chosen 
as what ma}^ be deemed the seat of G-overnment of the col- 
lective Indian tribes, and doubtless on account of its cen- 
tral position and ready access ; in thek selection the brown 
skinned children of the forest shewed more descrimination 
than have some of their fairer successors. 

EARLY HISTORY. 

Here, then, at a very early day sprang up the Indian 
Village Cataraqui, or Cataroquoui, and here now stands 
the massive stone-built cit}^. Kingston has been what our 
neighbors would call " a location" from time immemorial, 
at least from the earliest records of the country. In Indian 
annals it is classic ground. The shores of the suri'ounding 
beautiful bays have echoed to the war-whoop of the dark 
skinned warrior ; the forest shades around, now the sites 
of handsome villas, witnessed many a bloody conflict be- 
tween the contending tribes of the earlier denizens of their 
wilds. Here the Huron and the Seneca fell before the 
tomahawk of the more warlike Iroquois, and here the 
mighty Brandt has oft mustered his warrior chiefs ere he 
led them in devastation through the valleys and scenes 
where his own boyhood had been spent. Up to within a 
few years past, when the policy of the Imperial Govern- 
ment was changed, no expense was spared to add to the 
strength of Kingston as a fortification. The log fort of the 
French Governor has been replaced by the stone bar- 
racks at the Tete du Pont ; the early English fort, built of 
wood, and the battery at Point Frederick, by the present 
substantial military works of Fort Henry and Point Fred- 
erick, massive Martello Towers now command the entrance 
to the harbour in the place of the square towers first built 
by the English, (1) and a solid stone battery mounted 

(1.) At the time of the conquest the only French fort was that of Fronte- 
nac, which stood nearly on the site of the present stone barracks, at the Tete 
du Pont. This fort was of stone and wood, flanked with stone towers. The 
original fort, commeaced by DcCourcelles was of logs. Fort Fronteuac existed 



PEIZE ESSAY. 9 

with guns of large calibre, fronts tlie bay and harbor. 

FORT HENEY. 

The Avorks at Fort Henry consist of an advanced bat- 
tery with numerous guns and mortars, case-mated barracks 
containing accommodation for a large garrison, and exten- 
sive subterranean communications, connecting with sally 
ports, defended by Martello towers, and a fort mounted 
with some 30 to 40, 24, 34 and 56 pound cannon, with 
embrasures and space for. mounting double that number, 
and a large number of mortars, A stock of ordnance 
stores, guns, shot and ammunition of all kinds is kept con- 
stantly stored Avithin its walls. On these works vast sums 
have been expended. They are well worth the attention 
and inspection of visitors, and if aught should disturb our 
present peaceful relations with neighboring powers, their 
value and importance will be appreciated as defences. 

Martin, in his history of Canada, thus briefly notices 
Kingston: — "The other British town of importance" (after 
Toronto,) "on this shore. is Kingston, formerly Cataraqui 
" or Fr ontenac, distant from Toronto 184, and from Mon- 

for several years after the conquest, the remains of the tower in the interior 
being removed in 1S27. The present barrixcks were built, the officers' quarters 
in 1821, the men's stone barracks in 1827, and the frame barracks in 1837. 
At the commencement of the Trarof 1812, Point Henry, the site of the present 
extensive military works, was covered with trees ; in the following year a 
rude fort of logs and embankment was thrown up. A year or two after 
its erection two lar^e and substantial stone towers were added to the de- 
fences, they were lofty square towers rounded at the corners. These re- 
mained until about 1826 or '28. Stone magazines, ordnance offices, and armoury 
were built outside the fort during the 3'-ears 1816, '17 and '18. Extensive stone 
barracks, roofed with tin were built between 1818 and 1820; one of these 
within the fort was 230 feet in length ; another building which stood where the 
advanced battery has since been built, was 80 feet in length, and formed the 
officers' quarters. These barracks stood until 1S41, when they were pulled 
down and the material sold. Two large houses in Brock Street, and one in 
Barrack Street, were built from the stone, which, it may be remarked in pas- 
sing, is not the ordinary blue limestone in general use, but a much whiter 
material, apparently not so durable. The erection of the present Fort was 
commenced in 1832, several previous years having been spent in the quarrying 
and preparing material. It was first occupied in 1836. On Point Frederick 
the tirst works were a breast work of logs and earth, with traversing platforms 
for guns ; within the breast-work was a block house. These works were built 
during or just after the war; this block house was burnt in the year 1820. There 
were also built, about the same time, a block house surrounded with a strong 
stockade on the hill on Priucess-st, on the lot formerly owned by the late Mr. 
Jacob Ritter ; a small redan on Ordnance Street : a battery at Missasaga 
Point ; a block house near the present Marine Railway ; one on Stuart's or 
Murney's Point; ai\ptherat Snake Island; one which st6od until recently, near 
the present new Court House, with those now standing, one, of them on the hill 
to the East of the city, and the other at tiie West end of Wellington Street. 
These block houses, excepting, ot course, that on Sn&ke Island, were all 
connected by a strong stake fence, or stockade; portions of which still exist, 
and formed a chain ot defences surrounding, what was then, the whole city. 



10 PRIZE ESSAY. 

" treal 180 miles. It is next to Quebec and Halifax tlie 
" strongest Britisli post in America, and next to Quebee 
" and Montreal the first in commercial importance. It is 
" advantageously situated on the North bank of the Lake 
" Ontario, at the head of the Eiver St. Lawrence, and is 
"separated from points Frederick and Henry by a bay^ 
" which extends a considerable distance to the North-west 
"beyond the town where it receives the waters of a river 
" flowing from the interior. Point Frederick is a long nar- 
" row peninsula extending about half a mile into the lake, 
" distant from Kingston about three-quarters of a mile on 
" the opposite side of the bay. This peninsula forms the 
" "West side of a narrow and deep inlet called Navy Bay, 
" from its being our chief naval depot on Lake Ontario." 

Navy Bay was sometimes called Haldimand Cove. 

He 31so mentions what has been above stated,, that be- 
tween Kingston and Montreal ihe Eiver St. Lawrence was 
called the Cataraqui or Iroqouis. The whole distance 
from the City of Kingston to the Gulf^ is now generally 
understood under the name of the St. Lawrence. 

For many j^ears a Naval Station was maintained at 
Kingston with a Dock Yard and stores : and numerous 
officers and employees of all classes in the pay of the Ad- 
miralty, helped to distribute the coin of John Bull in this 
region. As a military station it was, until lately, the head 
quarters of the troops in Upper Canada, and the residence 
of the Commander-in-Chief: and a staff of the Ordnance 
and Engineer departments was kept up. Of late years a 
general reduction has been made, — a small garrison is only 
now kept, and the Artilleiy is wholly withdrawn. (1) 

The naval establishment was some dozen years ago 
greatly reduced, and is now wholly abandoned. In years 
past, however, the officers and crew of Her Majesty's ship 
Niagara^ were regularly piped to quarters in a handsome 
stone building in the Dock Yard, which was manned and 
the crew disciplined in complete man-of-war fashion. 

In these by-gone days, Kingston was the residence of 
the Commodore in charge of the Naval department, who 
lived in a style which would have quite outshone that of 
some of our economical Governors. Those connected with, 
his and other departments, foUow^ed the worthy Commo- 
dore's example, and as the population was not then great, 

(1.^) This was written before the recently proclaimed peace in Europe. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 11 

the influence of tliat example rendered the town, if not 
a very prosperous, certainly a very gay and seemingly 
happy one. 

Times have certainly changed since then, as far as the 
expenditure of Imperial money is concerned. It will, how- 
ever, be shewn before these remarks are closed, that there 
exists for Kingston sources of wealth and prosperitj^, total- 
ly apart from such extraneous aid as the scatterings of the 
treasury chest afforded, and that if much outlay has been 
made here, it has not been in the developement of its nat- 
ural resources, but has been of a nature to produce but a 
transient, if any benefit, 

CAPTURE BY THE ENGLISH. 

To return to its early history. The capture of Fort 
Frontenac was, next to the fall of Quebec, one of the most 
important events in the conquest of Canada, and led to the 
surrender of the whole Western part of the Colony. This 
event took place about 100 years since ; the surrender be- 
ing made the 27th August, 1757. The fort at that time 
consisted of a quadrangle, each face about 100 yards in 
length. Thirty pieces of cannon were mounted on its 
walls, and a large reserve of Artillery was contained within 
them ; its garrison, however, is said to have been quite in- 
sufficient for its defence. 

Colonel Bradstreet, well known in the history of those 
times, had obtained leave from General Abercrombie to 
revenge on Fort Frontenac the ruin of Oswego, and thus 
to gain the command of Lake Ontario. On the 25th of 
August, 1758, he landed without opposition within a mile 
of the fort. He found this far-famed position weakly for- 
tified, and worse garrisoned. Bradstreet at first threw up 
his works at 500 yards from the fort. Finding that the 
distance was too great, and the fire of the enemy little to 
be feared, he pushed closer on, and gained possession of an 
old entrenchment near the defences, (1) whence he opened 
fire with vigour and effect. A little alter 7 o'clock on the 
morning of 27th, the French surrendered, being without 

(1.) This old entrenchmfint remained for many years after the conquest; 
it ran across where the present Market House now stands. What it was orig- 
inally it would be difficult to say ; probably the outworka of the first Frencn 
fort which was destroyed by the Indians. 



12 PRIZE ESSAY. 

hope of succour, and of tlicmselves alone, incapable of a 
successful defence. 

Tlie garrison, consisting of only 120 regular soldiers 
and 40 Indians, became prisoners of war, and 60 pieces of 
cannon, 16 mortars, an immense supply of provisions, 
stores and ammunition, with all the shipping on the lake, 
fell into the hands of the victors. Among the prizes -were 
several vessels richly laden with furs, to the value, it is 
said, of 70,000 louis d'ors. The attacking army had not 
to lament the loss of a single man. (1) 

Since the event above described, Kingston and its 
fortifications have continued in the hands of their present 
possessors. 

In 1783, the neighborhood was first settled by, a- 
mongst others, the heads of many of the principal families 
now residing there, who accompanied Sir John Johnston 
in his removal from the Mohawk Valle3\ Not least known 
among these was the late Rev. Dr. Stuart, the friend and 
companion of Sir William Johnston, and of the celebrated 
Brandt or Tyendenaga, who came here in 1785, after first 
settling for a time at Sorel, in Lower Canada. 

The town was laid out in 1793, being then confined to 
what is now the Eastern portion in the vicinity of the Tete 
du Pont barracks, and what was then known as the Cat- 
araqui Common, Lots 25, 24, 23, on which is situated the 
chief part of the city, were then farm lots of 200 acres each, 
and uncleared. 

THE CITY. 

The City of Kingston is built on an extensive lime 
stone rock. This stone forms its best building material, 
and is also fast becoming an article of export, being ship- 
ped in large quantities to other cities, both in Canada and 
the neighboring States, for use in the erection or orna- 
menting of public edifices. Here the public buildings, the 
churches, shops and private houses, are nearly all of the 
same substantial material. It gives to the streets a solid, btit 
sombre appearance, very unlike the meretricious effect of 
paint and red brick, so conspicuous elsewhere. The streets 
are laid out somewhat irregularly. This together with the 
heavy-looking material used in building, and with here 
and there a specimen of old fashioned steep-roofed massive- 

(1.) Warburton's Conquest of Canada. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 13 

\y built liouses, gives to tlie place a peculiar and somewliat 
quaint appearance, wliich, if not indicative of fast increas- 
ing prosperity, is not altogether void of cliarni and interest. 
The place has a home look, which is often wanting in the 
bustling new built town of recent existence ; and apart 
from consideration of commercial prosperity, (which will 
be treated of hereafter,) offers many inducements as a place 
of residence. 

Leaving the business portion of the city, the visitor 
will find in the more retired streets and suburbs, villa-like 
houses of considerable architectural pretensions, surround- 
ed with ornamental trees and handsome gardens, evidenc- 
ing in their whole style and appearance, an amount of 
wealth and substantial comfort on the part of iheir owners, 
perhaps not excelled by any city in Canada West. These 
residences, in many instances, command a view of the bay 
and harbor: and tew scenes can excel in beauty the pros- 
pect these present. Situated at the entrance of the Bay of 
Quinte, the scenery along the margin of which is admit- 
ted to be of the most picturesque description — studded 
with islands, which may be considered the commencement 
of the far-famed Thousand Islands ; adorned with military 
and other works of art, — the fort, the towers, the battery, 
and the bridge, rich in their own transcendent and varied 
charms, the Bay and Harbor of Kingston can fairly 
claim to stand, among Canadian scenes, pre-eminent for mag- 
nificence. The ark-like steamer, the schooner, the brig, 
with its towering spars, and the yacht of the amateur alike 
find safety in their land-locked waters. 

Opposite the city stretches Wolfe or Long Island, a 
fertile strip of land, well settled and cultivated, and some- 
what famous for the build of its boats and small vessels. 

Garden Island, — a small Isle well named and rich in 
fertility, lies between it and the cit}^. Here is a ship yard 
and Marine Railway. 

Cedar Island, on which is erected one of the Martello 
Towers makes another of the surrounding cluster. 

These, together with Simcoe and Amherst Islands, 
form a breastwork against the Autumn tempest, and oft 
when the storm-tossed lake is lashed into raging fury, 
sheltered by these guardian isles, the bay and harbor rest in 
almost undisturbed and unruffled calm. These waters are 
well calculated to afford an abundant source of amusement 



'^' 



14 PEIZE ESSAY. 

and recreation to those who seek pleasure or health in 
boating. They are rich too, in many descriptions of fish. 
There are, in short, few spots where those possessing leisure 
and means can find more enjoj^ment at limited cost, than 
in this neighborhood. In Summer, the placid bay, with 
its rocky islets shaded by clustering pines or cedars, tempts 
the lover of nature or of exercise from the sultry town, to 
guide liis light bark o'er its sparkling waters, in search of 
his finny victim, or, with less destructive purpose, to lis- 
ten to the strains of the song, or the guitar of his accom- 
panying fair one. In early winter the ice covered bay is 
alive with skaters, ice-boats, and their merry parties, Curl- 
ers, who with true national ardour enter into the time-hon- 
oured sports of " Auld Lang Syne," and all whom plea- 
sure or business bring to cross on foot, or behind the jing- 
ling sleigh-bells, its glassy surface. 

For this city may fairly be claimed many advantages 
as a pleasant place of residence for those whose choice is 
guided by the consideration of the facilities for innocent 
enjoyment and healthy amusement. The immediate neigh- 
borhood of the city is not the only spot affording them ; 
numerous lakes and streams within a short distance of the 
city furnish capital fishing, pic-nicing, duck shooting and 
other sport. Good roads now lead to most of these. Lo- 
borough Lake is the chief of them. In some townships 
the sportsman will find excellent deer hunting. Venison 
is very plentiful in the market when in season, being 
brought in by the Indians and hunters from the back 
townships. 

Whilst considering the claims of this spot as a place 
of residence, it is proper to take into account its climate 
and salubrity. For health there are few parts of the Pro- 
vince which equal, and none which excel it. The epide- 
mics which have visited the land have touched Kingston 
with a lenient hand. In Summer the heat is tempered by 
the cooling breezes from the lake ; in winter whilst the 
cold is somewhat greater than further West, the air is 
drier, and there is less damp, and the snow lies more stead- 
ily, and affords more continued and pleasant sleighing, at 
the same time that the temperature is milder than in the 
cities of Canada East. As a proof of the salubrity of King- 
ston it may be mentioned that the comparative mortality in 
Quebec Montreal and Kingston, is as follows: — in Quebec, 



FRIZE ESSAY. 15 

1 deatL. in 89 ; in Montreal, 1 in 83 ; in Kingston, 1 in 81. 

THE PARK. 

An important addition to tlie city will be its park. 
Kingston claims with, justice to have set the example of 
snatching a space from the encroachment of wharves, 
warehouses and shops, for the objects of beauty and taste, 
and the purposes of health and recreation. An area, not 
large, some fifteen acres, has been neatly fenced, laid out 
in drives, walks, lawns and avenues, and planted with or- 
namental trees. It is in contemplation to further ornament 
these grounds with fountains ; an observatory furnished with 
a very expensive and excellent telescope, aids the efforts o f 
science, and adds another attraction to the spot. 

GAS WORKS. 

The streets of the city are well lighted with gas, which 
is in general use in shops and public places, and in private 
houses. When a company was first attempted to be form- 
ed for the purpose of supplying the ci+y, many people, and 
among them Engineers of some eminence, believed that 
obstacles existed which would render the undertaking so 
expensive as to preclude all hope of its being remunera- 
tive. The nature of the soil through which the pipes were 
to be laid being the chief of these obstacles. 

The attempt, howevei', was made, and happily the 
difficulties were found less than were anticipated. The 
Company has proved a great benefit to the city, and pro- 
ductive to the shareholders. Its stock being now at a 
premium. 

WATER WORKS. 

The inhabitants are well supplied with water from a 
reservoir filled from the lake, the waters of which are very 
pure. The works are fed from the bay where the stream 
is uncontaminated by any impurities. The Water Works 
Company has also succeeded in the face of many difficul- 
ties. The expense of pipes and laborof laying them down 
being even greater than in the case of the Gas Company, 
as to provide against the effect of frost they have to be 
laid at a much greater depth. The affairs of this Compa- 
ny have, however, prospered, and their stock is also held 



1 6 PKIZE ESSAY. 

at a preuiiuin. More or less dissatisfection exists as to its 
management, and the Company having a monopoly are 
said not to consider the interest of the public fairly. The 
Corporation of the city has aided the company to some ex- 
tent, and it has been suggested that they should purchase 
the whole stock, and ensure a sufficiency of water in cases 
of fires, and afibrd to every paj^er of a water rate a supply 
of that necessar}', at a cheaper price than consumers now 
obtain it. It ought, however, in justice, to be borne in. 
mind, that the capital of the companj^ has been but small, 
some £16,000, audits difficulties great ; that in consequence 
the dimensions of their pipes are perhaps insufficient for any 
great extra demand ; and also, that in some instances of 
the occurrence of fires, the hydrants may have been inju- 
diciously managed. As it is, the Company pump to their 
reservoir some -150,000 gallons of water daily, being near- 
ly half tlie supply to the City of Montreal, with four times 
our population. They are now employed in laying down 
pipes of a larger bore. The works and office of this Com- 
pany are in a part of the city near what was formerly 
known as Missassaga Point, once an Indian burying ground, 
and where during the war of 1812 stood a three-gun bat- 
tery. 

IMPEEIAL EXPENDITURE. 

It has been mentioned that Kingston has alwaj^s been 
a military station, and that in the construction of military 
works, the maintainance of a dock yard, and of troops, and 
the public and private expenditure of officers and men, 
much money has been laid out which was not earned or 
created there ; that is, such money was not, save to a lim- 
ited extent, paid for the products of the soil, or produced 
by manufactures, or tlae increased value of materials in re- 
turn for the labor and skill bestowed upon them. 

It may be interesting and profitable to consider what 
has been the effect of such a state of things on the general 
prospects and prosperity of the citj'. At the first glance 
it might be assumed that it could not be otherwise than 
beneficial : but it has had, to say the least of it, its attend- 
ant evils, which coupled with other causes, which will be 
pointed out, have gone far to make the benefit a very tran- 
sient, if not a very doubtful one. 

First and chiefly, it has created a population depen- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 17 

dent in its views and calculations, ratlier on these extra- 
neous sources of wealth than on the legitimate resources of 
the country, which have been consequently left the longer 
undeveloped; and a minor but not an unimportant consid- 
eration, it has furnished emj^loyment to a very great num- 
ber of people in callings of an unproductive, not to say 
demoralizing nature, by causing a great increase of small 
inns, taverns and groggeries. 

In the local trade and business of the city it has crea- 
ted a custom independent and apart from the agricultural 
community around, and the increase of the city and the 
progress of the counties have not been as much one and 
united, nor gone hand in hand as otherwise thej would 
have done. 

It has also, when partially withdrawn, or when no 
longer directly and advantageously felt, left an apparent 
dulness and stagnation which has created a prejudice against 
the locality injurious to its interests, but which a return to 
its many legitimate sources of prosperity, and the rapid and 
certain development of its resources will doubtlessly speed- 
ily remove. 

SOCIAL CONDITION. 

Its social effect has been too of a mixed character, 
though perhaps on the whole beneficial ; it deserves at 
least a passing notice. 

Employees of the public departments, or more fre- 
quentl}^ merchants, contractors, &c., grew rich in the early 
history of the city, when the expenditure of British money 
was greatest, and that with, on their parts, (subject to cer- 
tain honorable exceptions,) the exercise of no greater, and 
sometimes of less intelligence and ability than are now ne- 
cessary to secure a decent competence : these, with the 
growing influence which time, wealth, increasing connec- 
tion, (fcc, in the natural course of events has given them, 
created a limited but influential circle that constitutes the 
upper class of the social community. To this the officers 
in garrison have always formed an agreeable and valuable 
addition, and together, they have afforded to those mixing 
with them, the very many charms of good and refined so- 
ciety. Little social distinctions, and the consequent heart- 
burnings and bickerings appear to be the common lot of 
all small communities ; but our city has perhaps been as 



18 PRIZE ESSAY. 

free from tliem as have most others of its size ; and gen- 
erally speaking, its inhabitants are deservedly esteemed for 
their friendliness and hospitality. If the claims to social dis- 
tinction, or fashionable eminence, have occasionally seem- 
ed a little inconsistent with the antecedents of the claim- 
ants, if the test of wealth alone hns been too much applied 
without due weight given to birth, education, or honest 
worth, it is only the almost invariable feature of colonial 
society, where almost every successful man mvist have been 
the architect of his own fortune, and naturally plumes him- 
self on what he considers his own merit or skill to have 
achieved. On the whole, it is deemed that here may be 
found as good society as in any town in the Province, with 
all that refinement, luxury, attainments, and physical and 
mental beauty can offer to adorn and gild existence. It 
must be admitted, however, that the circumstances referred 
to did not create as energetic, enterprising and speculative 
a class as was perhaps to be found elsewhere, where cap- 
italists had settled, commanding ready funds, with the avow- 
ed and determined object of embarking in business. The 
ideas of enterprise and modern progress entertained by 
some may be illustrated by the following little anecdote : — 
"When a new road was proposed leading through some of 
the best portions of the Counties, opening up others, and 
ajBfording many and great advantages, the benefits of which 
in short were apparent to all, and the only question in- 
volved was how to raise the money, a very wealthy 
land-holder, who had amassed his thousands in the city, 
and part of whose possessions lay on the route, replied to 
an application made to him to subscribe for stock, that the 
effect of the road would be to enable people to steal his 
timber, and he declined to subscribe ! It is presumed that 
railroads and electric telegraphs were not in fashion when 
this gentleman made his monej^. 

A very different spirit from that evinced by the hero 
of this little anecdote is now generally displayed. Young- 
er representatives of the old inhabitants, possessing all the 
advantages that good education, free municipal institutions, 
and the general intelligence diffused by the progress of 
knowledge have created, have taken the place of those 
whose opportunities for advancement were more limited. 
An infusion among these of the talent and energy of many 
educated and talented inhabitants of Celtic and Saxon or- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 19 

igin, lias still farther aided in creating a more enterprising 
class. 

One merit the people of Kingston can fairly, though 
by no means exclusively, claim, and which though appar- 
ently inherent in the breasts of the descendants of the IT. 
E. Loyalists, may have been fostered by the intercourse 
mentioned, is their undoubted and unwavering loyalty and 
attachment to Great Britain, During the disturbances 
which agitated the Provinces in the years 1837 and 1838, 
the disaffected in this neighborhood were few and far be- 
tween, whilst all ranks vied in the display of zealous and 
enthusiastic patriotism and attachment to British rule. — 
When again under strong provocation some few Canadians, 
in a temporary ebulition of petulence, rather than from 
any disloyality prepense, raised a cry of Annexation, 
Kingston remained untainted and uncontaminated. That 
this feeling is not on the wane, there is abundance of proo£ 
Whilst these lines are being written, the bells of the city 
are ringing a boisterous peal, labour is suspended, shouts 
of joy arise from mustering crowds, flags are waving, and 
colours flying, and countless hearts are beating high in joy- 
ous exultation, for the stronghold of the tyrant is fallen I 
The arms of Britian and her Allies are victorious. — 

Sebastopol is taken ! 

* -j:- * * * -:f -^ * 

Since the above paragraphs were penned, peace has 
been proclaimed in Europe, and the distribution of troops 
throughout the Colonies has greatly increased the garrison, 
of Kingston. The gallant 9th Eegiment has arrived from 
Balaklava, and a company of Artillery is expected. It is 
reported that this and other Regiments in America are to 
be increased to 1200 strong; that large quantities of milita- 
ry and naval stores, ordnance, gun boats, &c., are to be sent 
here, and a large outlay of money made in the repairs and 
improvements of the fortifications. Whilst it must be ad- 
mitted that the presence amongst us of a portion of the 
Crimean army will be both a pleasure and a profit, and 
that a large expenditure of Imperial coin must benefit the 
local community there is no reason to doubt the correct- 
ness of the view above expressed of the general and ulti- 
mate effect of the causes alluded to, and it may be looked 
on that one thousand povmds expended in the macadamiz- 
ation of a road, is equal in general benefit to many thou- 



20 PRIZE ESSAY. 

sands of casual outlay occasioned by tlie troops and offi- 
cers in garrison. 

KINGSTON AS THE SEAT OF GOVEENMENT. 

When Lord Sydenham succeeded in his scheme of 
uniting Upper and Lower Canada, he naturally looked a- 
round for a suitable and central locality, when he might 
fix the Seat of the Government of the United Provinces. 
Kingston possessed all the necessary advantages to entitle 
it to that distinction, and despite the opposition of those 
interested in the advancement of other cities, it was select- 
ed as the favored spot: and the sagacity of the departed 
Statesman was not at fault in the choice. It was part of 
the policy to which he attached himself with an energy 
and zeal seldomed seen equalled, and which, we do not 
exceed the truth in saying, helped to shorten his existence. 

The Canadian Provinces were to be united. King- 
ston, the most central city of the whole was to be the seat 
of the Legislature for the convenience of both. Such was 
part of the plan of the Union, and a stranger unswayed by 
local influences, or setting them at naught, as did Lord 
Sydenham, could make no more natural or rational choice. 
It virtually formed part of the contract between the re- 
spective Provinces, when they relinquished their separate 
existence to form one whole, that the Government should 
be held in Canada West. The nearest city of importance 
to the line between them was that most fairly chosen, as 
being easy of access to members from both sections : it 
possesseed. at the same time the advantages ofa healthy site 
and many charms as a place of residence ; not always as 
peaceful as now in our relations with neighboring powers, 
the benefit of its being strongly fortified was not to be 
overlooked. In geographical position, with regard to the 
Atlantic sea ports, being distant from Boston in a direct 
line 300 miles only, and connecting with that city by a line 
of rail-roads : and from New York, in a direct line, only 
274 miles, being the nearest city to it in all Canada, and 
either of these places being easily reached in a day was of 
course a consideration of weight and importance. For al- 
though the present lines of road connecting us so closely 
with these great sea-ports, were not then completed ; it re- 
quired less sagacit}^ than was possessed by the deceased 
Statesman to contemplate their eventual existence. The 



PRIZE ESSAY. 21 

facilities for building, rendered public buildings for Legis- 
lative purposes more readily and economically erected than 
in an}^ other Canadian city ; and the surrounding country, 
though by no means rendered so available as it has since 
been for the production of all marketable commodities, was 
still sufficient for the extra demand created by increased 
population. 

The Legislative Halls, Public Offices, and the residence 
of the Governor, were then, in 1840, established at King- 
ston, where it was supposed they would be permanently 
located, as in all probability they would have been, but for 
the untimely death of the great Statesman, who was the 
means of their location there. Whilst in weak health, Lord 
Sydenham broke his leg by a fall from his horse, and the 
accident hastened, if it did not cause his death, which took 
place at Kingston, in the autumn of 1842 ; his remains 
were buried in this city, and a plain, but not inelegant 
marble slab in St. George's Church records his merits and 
marks his resting place. There is no doubt that his sud- 
den demise had an important effect on the destinies of the 
city. 

Lord Sydenham was not the first Governor who de- 
sired to see the Seat of the Legislature permanently estab- 
lished in Kingston. When Newark was temporarily the 
Seat of Government of Upper Canada, Lord Dorchester, 
then the Governor General of British North America, was 
most anxious to establish it at Kingston, and used his 
utmost exertions with that object : unfortunately the Gov- 
ernor of Upper Canada, General Simcoe, differed in his 
views on the subject, and after endeavoring to have it es- 
tablished at the forks of the river Thames, then called " De 
La Trenche," and subsequently, in local parlance, known 
as " The Forks," the site of the Town, now City of Lon- 
don, ultimately, swayed by local influence, fixed it at York. 
In this choice, and in his endeavors to establish it at 
London, General Simcoe's avowed object was to draw set- 
tiers to and open up the then unsettled parts of the coun- 
try. It is fair to presume that neither London nor York 
was intended to be the permanent site of the gubernatorial 
residence, when the country should be settled and improv- 
ed, and certainly not when again united to Lower Canada. 

Few, if any, reasonable objections exist to Kingston as 
the fixed Seat of Government. On the occasion of the re- 



22 PEIZE ESSAY, 

moval here, no inconvenience or difficulty was experienced, 
save such as is necessarily incidental to a change to a new 
city. Little preparation had been made for such an event, 
but a building (the present hospital,) was litted up, and 
served sufficiently well for the purposes of a Legislative 
Hall, and would have been amply sufficient for such until 
Government buildings could have been erected ; suitable 
offices for the different departments were furnished, and 
many public officials purchased property and built resi- 
dences, in the expectation that they would form their fu- 
ture homes. From the influx of strangers, houses of the 
better class were scarce, and rents consequently high, but 
not more, or even equally so, than they have since been in 
Quebec, Montreal and Toronto, under similar circumstances. 
It has been erroneously said at a distance that there is 
no surrounding country calculated to furnish marketable 
produce to a large non-producing population. On the oc- 
casion referred to, no scarcity was experienced of any of 
the ordinary articles of consumption, nor was the price of 
them particularly high ; in many of the minor table luxur- 
ies, garden vegetables, &c., the supply at that period was 
somewhat limited, simply because the farmers and others 
in the neighborhood had never given much attention to 
market gardening, the demand and prices paid not having 
previously made it worth their while to do so ; since that 
time, experience has proved that it required only ordinary 
skill and attention to raise in abundance every vegetable, 
and nearly every fruit that can be found elsewhere in the 
Province. As to supplies generally, the Townships along 
the Bay of Quinte alone were even, at the time referred to, 
far more than sufficient for all the demands, and now 
those Townships, and others throughout the Counties, ex- 
port produce of all kinds, and stock to a very considerable 
extent. It may seem a small consideration when treating 
of so important a branch of the subject to take into account 
these circumstances, but there is no ignoring the fact that 
the absence of some of these minor luxuries had a serious 
effect on the minds, and perhaps digestion of some of the 
officials of Her Majesty's Provincial Government, and some 
people at a distance are persuaded that Kingston is a City 
built on a rock, surrounded with barren and stoney wilds, 
out of which a bare existence is wrung by the occupants, 
and but a scanty supply afforded to the City, and in defer- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 23 

ence to tliose thus tinenliglitened facts are dwelt on whichi 
may seem trivial to tliose in tlie least acquainted with the 
neighborhood. Since 1845, when the Government was re- 
moved to Montreal, this City has greatly increased in the 
number of Avell-built and commodious houses, which, with 
a well regulated and well supplied market, tempting the 
most fastidious would prevent even the temporary incon- 
veniances which in that year were felt. If any families 
had to adopt double-bedded rooms, and to import their 
own celery in those days, we can now assure them 'nous 
avons changes tout axeler.' In short we claim for a City 
central, indeed almost in the very centre of the Province, 
to be governed, proverbially healthy, substantially built, 
strongly fortified, Avell lighted, thoroughly drained, plea- 
santly situated, abundantly supplied, easy of access, the 
focus of a net -work of good roads, the outlet of the produce 
of several rich counties, provided with a good harbour, and 
enjo^uDg many other advantages, a preeminence among all 
Canadian Cities, as the Permanent Seat of the Government 
of the Province. 

EFFECTS OF REMOVAL OF SEAT OF GOVERNMENT. 

The effect of the temporary location of the Seat of the 
Government at Kingston has generally been regarded as 
injurious to the interest of that City, but whilst its perma- 
nency would doubtlessly have made Kingston the first 
Cit}^ in the Province; it cannot be questioned that even 
its short establishment there was productive of beneficial 
results. 

It has already been hinted that a want of enterprise 
has marked some of the wealthier class, but high rents 
and the hopes of large profits, induced even them as well as 
others to build on speculation, and many handsome edifices 
now exist which would never have been erected in their 
present styles, had not the Capitol of the Province been 
for a while fixed here : such buildings have not in all in- 
stances been as profitable as their projectors anticipated 
but none of them are unoccupied. Cases occurred even 
when the man who staked his all in some such enterprise 
was ruined, but the building Avas finished by some wealthier 
purchaser, and the City was benefited and ornamented by 
its construction, and in many instances money was invest- 
ed which would otherwise have lain unproductive as far as 



24 PEIZE ESSAY. 

the public ^vas concerned, in the hands of the wealthy 
capitalist ; the Municipal Legislature of the City was 
encouraged to make improvements in streets, drainage, 
side-walks, and otherwise, and to erect the present hand- 
some and expensive edifice, the City Hall and Market 
House, though not so useful as it would have been had 
the Government remained here. The whole building is oc- 
cupied, and produces a revenue exceeding in amount the 
Interest on its cost. On the whole it may fairly be con- 
sidered that the City was improved by the temporary 
location of the Government here. 

PUBLIC MEN. 

It is but just to mention as some criterion of the so- 
cial state of Kingston, that she has furnished to the Bar, 
the Bench, the Senate and the Pulpit, many of those who 
in this land have most adorned them. Some, nay many of 
these have passed aAvay, and their voice is no more heard : 
others live to enjoy their well won honors ; but it would 
be invidious to particularize. 

EARLY SETTLERS. 

Many of the earliest settlers of the Province are still 
represented in Kingston. The Venerable Archdeacon, 
Rector of the City, who has performed the pastoral duties 
of his office for the last half century, accompanied his 
father, the friend of Sir William Johnston, and the first 
Missionary to the Mohawk Indians, from the bank of the 
Mohawk River to Montreal ; and subsequently to Kings- 
ton, about the year 1783, he succeeded the present Right 
Rev. Dr. Strachan, Bishop of Toronto, in the Rectory of 
Kingston, which he has held ever since. Other members 
of the famil}^ of the Reverend Missionary, have occupied 
prominent positions in the Province. The late Sir James 
Stuart, Chief Justice of Lower Canada, was another son ; 
the present Sir Charles Stuart is his grandson ; the wife of 
Sir Allan MacNab was his grand-daughter, and other 
branches of the family are well known in different parts of 
the country. The grand-father of the Rev. Mr. Herchmer, 
assistant Minister of St. George's Church, came at an early 
day from the neighboring States, a County of which, 
(Herchmer County), still bears the name of the family, 



PRIZE ESSAY. 26 

which was one of those that first settled in that colony : he 
served in Butler's Kangers, and took part in the border 
warfare in which that company figured. To the Eevd. 
John Stuart and Captain John Joseph Herchmer were 
granted in 1815, Lots Nos. 24, and 23, on which is situa- 
ted the principal part of the City of Kingston, Lot 25 
granted to Captain Grass and Cataraqui common being the 
sites of the remaining part : these lands of course became 
subsequently of great value. The heads of several other 
families which have acquired wealth and importance in the 
neighbourhood came in during, or immediately subsequent 
to the revolutionary war, sacrificing in many instances fair 
possessions and prospects to their attachment to loyalty and 
duty, and voluntarily exiling themselves to what was then 
looked on as a perfect Siberia: owing to the liberality of the 
British Government many of them afterwards became 
wealthy. The father of the late Keverend Robert and 
John Oartwright, Esqr,, after being engaged for a time to- 
gether with the late Honble. Eobert Hamilton in business 
at Fort Niagara : then in possession of the British, left 
there when that place was ceded to the United States, and 
settled at Kingston. He built at Napanee what are still 
known as the Cartwright Mills. His family and that of 
Mr. Hamilton have since filled important posts in the his- 
tory of the country, and their descendants live and own much 
valuable property in the locality of their early settlement. 

The father of the Honble. John and the Revd. Wm. 
Macaulay settled during the revolutionary war on Carlton 
Island, then a British station and fortification, where he sup- 
plied the Commissariat and Garrison, and carried on busi- 
ness. In 1 794: when that island was ceded to the Americans 
(who still hold it)Mr Macaulay removed to Kingston, where 
he amassed considerable property (1) and was succeeded by 
his son the Hon. John Macaulay who afterwards filled re- 
sponsible situations under Government, and is still living. 

The father of Mr. John Forsyth was another early and 
wealthy and respected citizen, and many others might be 
named, some still living and some well represented in their 
descendants, if space permitted or occasion required it. 

(1.) When Mr. Macaulay removed to Kingston, he had rafted over from 
Carlton Island his log dwelling-house, and placed it where it now stands at the 
corner of Princess and Ontario Sts. It has since been clap-boarded ov 
added to, and having been kept painted and in good repair is still a vi 
able building. 



26 PRIZE ESSAY. 

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 

There are in Kingston two Colleges, Queen's College, 
and Eegiopolis; the County Grammar School, 11 Com- 
mon Schools, 2 Separate E. C. Schools, one School con- 
nected with the Nunnery, or Sisters of Charity, with num- 
erous good Private Schools for boys, Private Schools for 
girls, Infant Schools,, and other minor edueational estab- 
lishments, such as Evening Schools, Classes for teaching 
Continental languages, &c., — in all, "between 20 and 30» 

queen's college. 

Queen's College is an educational institution of very 
considerable importance, and from it have issued graduates 
in arts, divinity and medicine, of no despicable attainments. 
It was incorporated by Eoyal Charter in 1842, and is un- 
der the mnnagement of a Board of Trustees and Senate. 
It has a Principal and four Professors in Arts and Divinity, 
besides six Medical Professors. It confers Scholarships of 
the aggregate value of £200, the highest being worth £12 
10s. It numbers during the present year, 47 Medical 
Students, 80 in Arts, 10 in Divinity. Connected with it 
is a Preparatory School, where great pains are taken to 
prepare pupils for matriculation at the College, A good 
library, containing some 8,000 volumes, belongs to the 
College. A series of Meteological observations are taken 
by the graduates, with the able supervision of the Eev. 
Professor James "Williamson, under whose assiduous at- 
tention this branch of knowledge, so much neglected in 
Canada, has been carefully fostered. 

This institution owns valuable real estate, and is aided 
by an annual grant from the Legislature of £750, and 
£250 to the Medical branch. 

regiopolis. 

Eegiopolis College is a Eoman Catholic Seminary of 
learning; it has three Professorships, the duties of which 
are discharged by Eoman Catholic Clergymen. Beyond 
its own walls and its own community, it is little known as 
an educational institution. 

GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 

The County Grammar School is supported as those in 
other Counties, that is, by a grant from Government of 



PRIZE ESSAY. 27 

£100 per annum, and the tuition fees of pupils. It pos- 
sessed formerly a small endowment; this has for the pre- 
sent at least been consumed in creating a fund for the li- 
quidation of some debt on the school house, — a plain sub- 
stantial building in a healthy and elevated part of the town; 
it is under the control of a Board of Trustees, appointed by 
the County Council, and is managed by a head-master and 
under master. It is one of the three Grammar Schools 
first established in the Province, and created by Koyal 
Charter — the other two being at Cornwall and Niagara. 

COMMON SCHOOLS. 

The Common Schools are as in other places, under 
the management of the department of education, and the 
local control of a Board of Trustees and local Superinten- 
dant. There is a great want of proper and sufficient school 
houses, a want which it is anticipated will soon be supplied, 
the Board having in contemplation the immediate erection 
of proper buildings. The free school system has been a- 
dopted here ; the difGiculties usually attendant on its estab- 
lishment have not been altogether escaped — the public 
seeming loth to tax themselves to any great extent for the 
purpose of general education. The School Tax will be for 
the current year, about 3d. or 4d. in the pound — last year 
it was 7d. A marked increase in the attendance at the city 
schools has taken place during the last two years, and there 
are now taught as large a number of children in the com- 
mon schools of Kingston as in any other Canadian cit}^, in 
proportion to its population: the standard of education 
may or may not be as high as in Toronto, Hamilton or 
Brockville, but if it is more elementary, it is not less sound. 
In free public schools, such as now established, it is per- 
haps as well not to aim at a higher standard than is here 
attained to. When good school houses are erected, it will 
doubtlessly be found necessary to adopt the Central School 
System, on the model of that so successfully carried out in 
Hamilton, Perth and St, Catharines, and perhaps elsewhere. 
"When such is the case the present schools will rank high 
as primary schools, whilst the central school will have to 
compete with other similar institutions in the Province, 
and will not likely be behind them in character and value ; 
these changes are in contemplation, and will before long 
be carried into effect. The people of Kingston do not fail 



28 PRIZE ESSAY. 

to appreciate the benefits of ibe sound education of its in- 
habitants in elevating the position of a city. A public li- 
brary, containing some 2,000 volumes, lias been established 
in connection with the city schools. The Eoman Catholic 
Separate Schools are under the management of a separate 
Board of Trustees; they are supported as arc the Common 
Schools, by a Legislative grant, proportionate to the aver- 
age attendance of pupils, and by a rate settled by the 
Board, collected from all rate-payers ; in the case of the 
Separate Schools, from the parents of pupils and support- 
ers of the Schools, who are exempt from all other taxation 
for school purposes. The rate in their case is usually 
very low. The wealthier supporters of the Schools, with 
a praiseworthy zeal, voluntarily contribute largely to the 
required fund. Among the private schools are many ex- 
cellent academies for both boys and girls, which afibrd both 
ornamental acquirements and substantial classical and com- 
mercial education. 

PUBLIC INSTITUTION'S. 

The Public Institutions not before mentioned, are the 
General Hospital, the Hotel Dieu, the House of Industry, 
and the Mechanics Institute. 

nOSPITAIi, 

The General Hospital, which has been already inci- 
dentally mentioned, was built about 15 years ago from pri- 
vate donations, and was used for a period as a Parliament 
House. It is under the management of a Board of Trus- 
tees, appointed one-half by the Government, the other by 
the City Council ; it is supported by a Legislative grant 
and private donations. The estimated grant for this year 
is £1,000. 

HOTEL DIEU. 

The Hotel Dieu is a Hospital established and support- 
ed by the Eoman Catholic body, and by a grant of £200 
per annum from the Government. It is a plain stone 
building, situated in an airy part of the city ; the establish- 
ment is managed by Nuns and Sisters of Charity, whose 
attention to their patients is unremitting, and who receive 
under their care the ailing of whatever religious denomi' 
nation Jie may be who claims admittauce. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 29 



HOUSE OF INDUSTRY. 

Tlie House of Industry is tlie City House of Eefuge 
for the destitute ; it is under the management of a com- 
mittee of the City Council, and it is supported by a Legis- 
lative grant and by private and occasional public donations. 
The estimated grant for the present year is £750. 

THE mechanics' INSTITUTE. 

The Mechanics' Institute has not yet erected a build- 
ing for its own use, but the example set in other cities will 
no doubt soon incite its managers to do so. It is a most 
useful institution and fairly supported. It possesses a li- 
brary, containing about 2,000 volumes, and the nucleus of 
a museum. Some of the first citizens have acted as its 
Presidents. It receives from Government the annual 
grant of £50. 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

The Public Buildings of the city consist of the City- 
Hall and Market Buildings, the Churches, Banks, Hospi- 
tals, and Colleges, and the new Court House and Jail, now 
erecting ; a Custom House and Post Office are also about 
to be built by the Government, as also an Asylmn for in- 
sane Convicts ; though not actually within the limits of 
the city, the Provincial Penitentiary might also be classed 
among the Public Edifices of Kingston. 

CITY HALL AND MARKET HOUSE. 

The City Buildings consist of a handsome cut stone 
edifice in the shape of the letter T ; the front elevation is 
in chaste palladian style. The centre is ornamented with 
a dome which overlooks the city and the bay, and from 
which a good view of the city is obtained. This building 
contains the City Hall, a large and well proportioned room 
used for all public purposes; the Council Chamber, City 
Offices, &c., portions are rented for Reading Rooms, of 
which it contains two, the Office of the Bank of British 
North America, the warehouse of an extensive mercantile 
firm, and for other purposes. It was erected at a cost of 
about £30,000 in 1843, when Kingston was the seat of the 
Provincial Government, and is the finest structure of the 



30 PRIZE ESSAY. 

kind in Canada. Br. Lillie calls it, " the noble Market 
House at Kingston." The funds for the purpose of build- 
ing it were borrowed in England, but have since been re- 
paid. 

REGIOPOLIS COLLEGE. 

The College of Eegiopolis, a Koman Catholic College, 
is a plain un-ornamented, but substantial stone building, 
on an elevated spot in an airy part of the town ; it is a 
conspicuous object from the water and most parts of the 
city. Attached to it is the Vicar-General's garden, a very 
well cultivated and productive plot, which is worked and 
managed with more than ordinary skill and care. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL. 

The Roman Catholic Cathedral is a handsome edij&ce, 
in a commanding position, well proportioned, and grand 
in its dimensions ; the interior is very elegantly finished. 
The tower and spires, which, when completed, will add 
much to its beauty, are yet unbuilt. These, with the hand- 
some Episcopal residence adjoining, are built on Selma 
Park, a very valuable tract of land devised to the Roman 
Catholic community by the late Bishop Macdonell, who 
long resided at Kingston, and whose memory is much and 
deservedly respected by its inhabitants. 

HOSPITAL. 

The Hospital is a plain stone building without archi- 
tectural pretensions. 

queen's COLLEGE. 

Queen's College is a sightly pile in a conspicuous spot, 
and was intended at first for a private residence, being 
built and used for such by the Venerable Dr. Stuart, Arch- 
deacon of Kingston. It is in contemplation to add largely 
to this building; the addition will probably be commenced 
next year. 

Some of the Churches, which are numerous, are hand- 
some. The oldest and largest, next to the Roman Catho- 
lic Cathedral, is 

ST. George's church. 

This is a fine old structure, erected at an expense of 
£14,000, raised, as a tablet in its porch informs its readers, 



PRIZE ESSAY. 31 

partly by a sale of Church lands, by contributions from 
the congregation, and by a grant from Government, ob- 
tained through the intervention of Sir Peregrine Maiiland, 
the Governor of the Province. It was built in 1825, and 
much enlarged in 1840. The Eector, the Venerable Arch- 
deacon, and the Assistant-Minister. Mr Herchmer, each 
contributing the munificent donation of £1000 towards 
the cost of enlargement. This Church covers the remains 
of many officers of the garrison of Kingston, who have 
ended their days there ; also of many old and respected 
inhabitants. The former English Church, built of wood, 
stood on the adjoining block opposite the market place : it 
was standing within the memory of the present generation. 
In that old church, in 1792, was read and proclaimed the 
act constituting the Province of Upper Canada. The cap- 
ital of the Province was then at Newark, now Niagara, 
and there it is presumed the act was first read, but as there 
were only two Legislative Covmcillors and five Members of 
Assembly present, and as the mediums of publicity were 
then few and limited, it was deemed advisable, it appears, 
to publish the law in the church of the oldest city in the 
new Province. 

ST. Paul's chuech. 

St. Paul's (Episcopal,) Church stands in an ancient 
grave yard in Queen Street. It was originally built from 
funds subscribed for the purpose of building a church in 
memory of the late Eev. Eobert Cartwright. It was de- 
stroyed by fire about two years ago and has recently been 
rebuilt. It is a becoming church-like structure with a 
tower, which is still incomplete. The interior is finished in 
simple but chaste style, and with good taste, and the de- 
sign is carried out with a proper regard for church and ru- 
brical proprieties. 

ST. JAMES' CHURCH. 

St. James' (Episcopal), is a well proportioned Stone 
Church in the Western part of the City. 

WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. 

The British "Wesleyan Methodist Church is a newly 
built, elegant and church-like building, well situated, and 



32 PRIZE ESSAY. 

of chaste arcliitectural design, witli tliorouglily furnislied 
and decorated interior, it cost £6000. 

ST. Andrew's church. 

St. Andrew's (Presbyterian), a plain unpretending 
building, stands in the upper or northern part of the City. 
It is a very suitable and appropriate structure, and has long 
been the place of worship of the congregation that meet 
there. 

CHALMERS' CHURCH. 

Chalmers', or the Free Scotch Church, is a well built, 
but not inelegant building, built almost by the unaided ex- 
ertions of its own congregation. 

FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

An old French Roman Catholic Church, having on 
its gable the date of its erection, 1808, is still in use and in 
good condition. 

Besides these there are the Irish Presbyterian, the 
Primitive Methodist Church, Congregational and Baptist, 
and other places of worship, making in all 15 Churches in 
the City. 

COURT HOUSE AND JAIL. 

The new Court House and Jail, now nearly completed, 
will form a very handsome ornament to the City. It stands 
on a commanding site. The design is very chaste and 
elegant, and the building will present a very line appear- 
ance from the water, on approaching the Cit3^ The 
interior arrangements are judicious and commodious. It is 
erected by the County Council at a cost of £20,000. 

The front elevation of this handsome building is in 
Grecian Ionic style, with six pillars, and surmounted by a 
dome. The total length is 208 feet, width 54 feet. The 
lower storey is designed for public offices, and spacious 
accommodation is afforded to all officials. Above are the 
Court and Council Rooms, consisting of the Assizes and 
County Court, the Division Court and the County Council 
Rooms, each well adapted for the requisite purpose. The 
Jail and Jailor's dwelling are contained in a separate build- 
ing, intended as a wing of almost equal size with the Court 
House, being 200 feet by 54. The centre forms the Jailer's 



PRIZE ESSAY. 33 

apartments, on either side is the Jail, divided into 14 separate 
day rooms and 96 cells, with separate yards, out-houses, &c. 
Every arrangement has been made for the proper classifi- 
cation of prisoners; a subject so much neglected in Canada 
generall}-, and the Juvenile delinquent here suffers no con- 
tamination from the hardened culprit. The whole is care- 
fully and uniformly heated by hot air, and thoroughly 
ventilated. The design comprises a corresponding wing 
to the Jail now in course of erection for the accommodation 
of City offenders, and to ensure a still further separation, 
between male and female prisoners. To enable the pro- 
jectors to carry out this plan a grant of some £5000 was 
required from the City Council, which some unfortunate 
misunderstanding between the two Municipal bodies pre- 
vented being made. 

OLD COURT HOUSE. 

The former Court House and Jail, adjoining Saint 
George's Church on King Street, was built about 23 years 
ago. At that time it was the finest edifice of the kind in 
the Province: latterly it had become very much delapida- 
ted, and totally inadequate to tlie wants of the public. It 
has now passed, out ofthe hands of the County Council into 
those ofthe Provincial Government. It will be immediate- 
ly taken down, and on its site built a Custom House and 
Post Office ; the proposed designs for which are very hand- 
some. The intended buildings will form a still further 
imjjortant addition to our public edifices. 

On the site of the old Court House was formerly a 
large three-storied massive stone building, built at an early 
period in the history of the city, and taken down to make 
room for the present building. It served the purposes of 
Jail and Court House, the Jail yard surrounded by a stone 
wall occupying that portion of the block where St. 
George's Church stands. 

Among the Banks, the Commercial and Montreal 
are substantial, massive, and elegant buildings. The Peni- 
tentiary is described when speaking of the Township of 
Kingston. 

HARBOUR, WHARVES, TRADE, COMMERCE, &c 

The Harbour of Kingston is very capacious and safe, 
E 



8-1 PRIZE ESSAY. 

and would shelter a pei'fect fleet of vessels. It is also easy 
of approacli. It is lined witli a row of some 20 wliarves, 
some of them very extensive, and furnished with spacious 
Avarehonses and accommodations for the forwarding trade. 
On one of them is erected the extensive grain elevator, 
mentioned before. The building containing it is fire-proof 
and about 100 feet in height, and 52 bj 60 in size. The 
elevator is 69 feet in height, and is worked by a steam 
engine of 60 horse power. This machine will unload 3000 
busliels of grain per hour, the Avarehouse has capacity for 
storing at least 80,000 bushels of grain. The siune engine 
that woiks the elevator also propels machinery for the 
manufacture of cut nails and spikes of all sizes, of Avhich it 
is capable of turning out when in full operation, 2,000 lbs. 
per day. The amount of iron used in this manufactory is 
estimated at 700 tons per annum. The fu'n:k oAvning this 
extensive establishment, tranship annually, on their own 
account, or on account of consignees, but chiefly on their 
own account, about 600,000 bushels — a great proportion of 
which is sent to England. Though not on so extensiA^e a 
scale as that aboA^e described, there are other large for Avard- 
ing establishments, Avhere a large amount of business and 
transhipment is carried on. The schooners of large ton- 
nage now find it most profitable to confine in a great mea- 
sure their trips to the open lakes, while the facilities for 
transhipment induce forwarders to use barges on the St. 
Lawrence, Avhich are aided in their passage up by the Goa'- 
crnment line of tugs; thus a description of business Avhich 
the St. Lawrence Canals and improved navigation of the 
liver wns supposed to have almost extinguished at this 
port, is fast returning to its Avharves. 

SHirPING TRADE. 

The Shipping Trade of Kingston has alwaj's been a 
chief source of its importance and prosperity. In this 
neighborhood, at Ernesttown, in 1817, Avas built the first 
Canadian steamer that naA'igated these Avaters ; and here 
are noAV built and OAvned some of the largest and finest 
steam and other A'"essels that have traversed these lakes. — 
The Ship Yards and Marine E ail ways at Kingston, Garden 
Island and Portsmouth, have launched on these inland seas 
the greatest in number and largest of tonnage of Canadian 



1 



rilIZE ESSAY. 35 

vessels ill Canada West; Ivingstou being second onl}- to 
Quebec in tiie extent of its sliip building. 

Here in 1814: was built the tliree-decked sbip-of-war 
"Saint Lawrence," at a cost of £500,000. The chief cause 
of this enormous cost was the expense of transportation of 
stores and equipments from Montreal. The same weight 
of material could now be, and might have been at ain^ 
time since the construction of the Eideau Canal, conveyed 
here at about a hundreth part of the cost. 

Not only was the first steamer, but the first schooner 
launched on these waters, built in these counties. In 1678, 
a vessel of some ten tons burden was launched here; ano- 
ther of similar size and tonnage was launched at Oswego 
about the same time, and a much larger vessel, about 60 
tons burden, the "Cataracpii," (1) was built on Lake Erie 
the following Spring. In 1853, the aggregate tonnage of 
the vessels built at the ship-yard in Kingston alone, apart 
from those built at Portsmouth and Garden Island, amount- 
ed to 2500 tons: the cost of these vessels was £26,000, of 
which £14,600 was paid for labor. 

IvIXGSTON MARINE RAILWAY. 

At this establishment a large amount of business has 
always been carried on, and a large number of vessels built 
for both lake and ocean navigation — the largest being of 
750 and 850 tons burden. Three vessels of this tonnage, 
recently built, are now cmploj-ed in ocean navigation. To 
give an idea of the value of an establishment of this kind 
to the cit}', and the extent of its transactions, it ma}' be 
stated, that there are consumed in it upwards of 150,000 
cubic feet of timber, and -1,000 crooks annual Ij^ 

The greater part of this timber and all the crooks are 
drawn from the country around Kingston, and the labour 
of getting out and transportation, affords winter employ- 
ment to hundreds of men and teams. JSTearlj^ 200 persons 
are employed in the yard, chiefly shipwrights and carpen- 
ters, and the weekl}^ wages alone amount to about £1:00. 

(1.) An interesting account is found in Father Hannepin's narrative of the 
building and fate of this vessel. She was built above the Falls of Niagara io 
1679, under the direction of La Salle, (the French Govcrnoi-,) and the enter- 
prising Father, and after preceding to the upper lakes, and weathering a seve:e 
storm on Lake Huron, she was freighted with valuable furs, and conimencid 
her downward voyage, but unfortunately was never heard of after leaving 
Green Bay, ou Lake Michigan. She was 60 tons burden, and carried 7 guns. 



SG PRIZE ESSAY. 

Extensive stone buildings, for work shops, are erected, 150 
feet in length, with offices, moulding loft, &c. A steam saw 
mill, with 30 horse-power engine, drives saws, lathes, saws 
for cutting crooked timber, and planing machines, and is 
also applied in hauling up vessels on the ways ; it is capa- 
ble of hauling up a vessel of 300 tons. 

GABDEN ISLAND AND PORTSMOUTH MARINE RAILWAYS. 

At Garden Island a large trade is carried on in ship- 
building, and in the timber and stjjve carrying trade. And 
the ship-yard at Portsmouth is now as much alive as in its 
palmiest days, with the bustle and noise of busy workmen 
and all the signs of enterprize and prosperity. The stave 
and timber carrying business conducted at Garden Island 
is very extensive, and a number of schooners and several 
steamers are employed in it. A firm at this place contract 
to supply the Government tug line betAveen Kingston and 
Montreal with the necessary steam tugs, at a cost of about 
£6,750. 

MANUFACTORIES. 

Kingston possesses peculiar facilities for manufactur- 
ing purposes. Her position renders these doably valuable. 
The nearest Canadian port to the great Atlantic cities ; the 
key to the Upper Lakes ; the outlet of a valuable and ex- 
tensive tract of country; these commercial advantages 
gives to her manufacturing trade additional impetus and 
energy. The iron factories of the City are extensive ; of 
these the 

ONTARIO FOUNDRY 

Alone has, during the last two years, turned out ten loco- 
motive engines with tenders ; these have been sold to the 
Grand Trunk Railroad Company, at an average cost of 
£3,000 each ; seven of them are already at work on the 
road, and numerous others are in course of construction. 

KINGSTON FOUNDRY. 

The Kingston Foundry manufactures a large number 
of Marine and Stationary Engines; almost all the first-class 
steamers, built in our western ports, have of late years been 
furnished from this establishment, especially since the clos- 
ing of the Foundry Works of the Niagara Dock Co. Boil- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 87 

ers, mill-gearing, and heavy castings of all kinds, are man- 
ufactured here, and from 50 to 100 men kept employed. 

GORE STEEET FOUNDRY. 

The Gore Street Foundry supplies engines, &c., boil- 
ers, and heavy castings, gas and water pipes, &c. Cities at 
a distance laying down water and gas pipes have had them 
cast here. 

THE EAGLE FOUNDRY. 

The Eagle Foundry casts stoves and ploughs chiefly ; 
these they make in great numbers — employing constantly 
some 30 men, and casting from 1,000 to 1,800 stoves, of all 
patterns, annually, 

mair's foundry. 

Mair's Foundry builds portable and other engines, 
boilers, steam pumps for vessels, &c. In all these estab- 
lishments an active business is carried on. 

EDGE tool factory AND IRON AND AXLE FACTORY. 

In the iron trade are also a factory for the making 
of Edge Tools ; another for the manufacture of Agricul- 
tural Implements, Forks and Cut Nails. Also, a company 
called the Kingston Iron Axle Manufecturing Company, 
for the manufacture of Iron Axles and Screw Bolts, &c. 

NAIL FACTORY. 

Besides the Factory before mentioned for the manufac- 
ture of Nails, connected with the steam elevator. 

MANUFACTURES BY CONVICT LABOR. 

Several of these Companies avail themselves of the 
labour of convicts at the Penitentiary, which is let out by 
contract, and have erected steam engines in that institution 
for the purposes of their trade. The Edge Tool Factory, 
the Fork and Nail Factory, adopt this system ; large sums 
are paid annually for labour in this way, and the prison 
thus rendered, to a great extent, self-sustaining. 

Other Factories also follow the same course. The 



38 ril]ZE ESSAY. 

Penit ;.ntiarv Cabinet Warelioiise turDS out a veiy large 
quantity of furniture of all descriptions. 

The Penitentiary Slioe Wareliousc sujiplies an im- 
mense quantity of the produce of their trade to all parts of 
the country. 

PRINTING OFFICES. 

There are six Printing Offices in the city, one using 
steam presses, and t\yo publishing houses; four newspa- 
pers — three dailies and one semi-weekly. The first daily 
paper issued in Upper Canada was the British Whig, issued 
at Kingston. 

TANNEllIES, BREWERIES, kc. 

Of Tanneries there are two in the citj^, and one very 
extensiye one at Portsmouth, 

Breweries four, and one a.t Portsmouth, 

JIORTON's DISTILLERY. 

Distilleries one, but that one is very extensive. At it 
are consumed annuall}^, some 200,000 bushels of coarse 
grain of various qualities. The proprietor of this vast es- 
tablishment has for some years past, advertised to pay a 
certain price for rj^e, which has been the means of increas- 
ing the culture of that grain to a great extent in the various 
townships, as is seen by the return of their products. The 
Distiller}^, with the P)rewery connected with it, is the most 
extensiye of the kind in the Province ; it employs at least 
100 men constantly. Adjoining the Distillery is a very 
extensiye range of cattle-barns, capable of containing 1000 
to 1200 head of cattle, and during the winter season lilled 
in every stall with fatting cattle. There is no Avhere else 
in Canada, and scarcely elsewhere, a similar concern to 
this. A thousand flit oxen under one roof make a goodly 
show. These animals are mostly, perhaps all, supplied 
from within these counties ; they are fed from the Distille- 
ry wash, and with a full supply of hay, and are soon in 
splendid condition for the shambles. 

MINERAL SPRINGS. 

On the site of this Distillery, whilst boring for water, 
two Mineral Springs were discovered : the waters of which. 



rHIZE ESSAY. 



39 



arc strongly impregnated with iron, and possess valiiaLlc 
nicdieal properties. 

Tlic following analyses of tlicni was made by Professor 
Williamson : — 



UPPER WELL. 



Specific gravitj'. . . .1,04:3?. 
In an Imperial Piut. 

Carbonite of Lime 3,2031 graii 

Carbonite of ilagiicsia.il, 26.53 " 

Sulphate of Lime 3,471G " 

Chloride of Sodium . . . 261,3108 " 

Sulphate of Mcgncsia... 4,3002 " 

Chloride of Calcium. .112,8025 " 



457,2700 
Iodine and Bromine, (traces.) 
Gases, Carbonic Acid Gas. 



LOWER WELL. 

Specific gravity 10.10. 

In an Imperial Pint. 

Chloride of Sodium 45, 64 grains. 

Sulphate of Soda 21,36 " 

Chloride of Calcium 35, yj " 

Chloride of Magnesium . . 1 5,43 " 



117,52 
Gases, Carbonic Acid Gas, and a trace 
of Sulphurated Hydrogen. 



FACTORIES, kC. 

There are two Planing Machines, and several Cabinet 
Maker's Lathes worked by steam, 

Wiien it is recollected that 25 years ago there was not 
a lathe for turning iron in the city, it will be admitted that 
in the progress of manufacturing enterprise Kingston has 
not been behindhand. 

Numerous branches of Mechanical business and trades 
are carried on, such as Chair Factories, Broom Factories, 
ifcc, which it is not deemed necessary to particularize, but 
they, with business generally, appear all to be pros]3ering, 
and maintain a good name and credit. If as much display 
and apparent rapid advance is not seen as in some cities, 
neither is the same recklessness and con3e([uent bankrupt- 
cy visible, but a sound and wholesome system of business 
steadily and safely increasing, guarantees future prosperity. 

MONIED INSTITUTIONS. 

The Monied Institutions arc the Trust and Loan Com- 
pany of Upper Canada, established in 1851, and authorised 
to lend money, on the security of real estate, for five yeare 
at an interest of 8 per cent. It has done a very extensive 
business since its establishment, and in the absence of a 
sufhciency of a circulating medium to represent the valua- 
ble leal and personal assets of the community, must have 
been of extensive benefits. Its capital is £500,000. 

The Commercial Lank of the iVlidlaad District is es- 
tablished here, and is one of the oldest banking institutions 



40 PRIZE ESSAY. 

in tlie Province, being established in 1832. Its capital is 
now «£1, 000, 000. It does a very extensive business, and has 
agencies in all the principal Canadian cities. 

The Banks of Montreal, Upper Canada and British 
North America, have agencies here. 

Of Insurance Comj)anies, the head offices of the Ath- 
eneum and the Beacon are here, and agencies are kept of 
the principal offices in the Province. 

There are two Building Societies, and one has been 
very successfully and satisfactorily wound up. 

CONNECTION WITH SEA PORTS AND OTHER CITIES. 

Kingston, when the Grand Trunk Eailroad shall be 
completed, will be within easy distance of every part of 
Canada reached by that line and its tributaries. It lies 
opposite the American port of Cape Vincent, at a distance 
direct of only 12 miles. In winter the ice affords a safe 
and speedy means of communication, and a line of stages run 
several times daily ; in summer, the communication by 
steam is also rapid. 

It has been attempted to make it still more so by the con- 
struction of a Canal across Wolfe Island, which is at pres- 
ent unfinished. Cape Vincent is united by a railroad with 
Eome, Avhence railroads diverge in every direction, to all 
the principal cities in the United States. Sackett's Har- 
bor and Oswego are also within a few hour's journey, by 
steamer, and from them, particularly Oswego, communica- 
tion is safe and rapid to all the most important places in 
the Union. At the head of the Eiver, and port of Lake 
navigation, Kingston is easily reached from all the cities 
and ports on either side of the water — between the chief 
of them and that city, steamers daily ply. Many of these 
steamers, some of which are the finest on these waters, 
have been built and are owned in Kingston, as is a very 
large amount of shipping generally. 

FINANCIAL STATISTICS, &c. 

The Financial afiairs of the city may be judged of from 
the statement given below. The assessed value of proper- 
ty is £75,436 : taxes about 3s. in the £ ; population about 
15,000. The city owns about £7,500 worth of real estate. 
The roads in which it holds stock have not yet been open- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 41 

ed a sufficient time to aftbrd a return, but they will ulti- 
mately add largely to the revenue. 

Kingston is divided into seven wards ; two Aldermen 
and two Councilmen from eacli, form the Municipal Cor- 
poration, which is presided over by a Mayor. 

It was incorporated in 1838, and sends one mem- 
ber to Parliament; the present member, who is also 
Attorney-General of Canada West, has represented it for a 
number of years. A former member was also Attorney- 
General and died a Judge of the Queen's Bench ; another 
member, for Lennox and Addington, was Solicitor-Gener- 
al and died a County Court Judge, and a man of wealth 
and station. The County of Frontenac sends one member 
to Parliament ; the present member is Solicitor General for 
Canada West. Lennox and Addington are joined for the 
purpose of representation, and send one member, who at 
present is also Warden of the United Counties, and pre- 
sides over the County Council. 

The value of the exports and imports entered during 
the last years, is shewn by the following figures : — ■ 



1851, 


EXPORTS. 

£30,046 12 


8 


IMPORTS. 

£151,531 18 


4 


DUTIES COLLECTED. 

£17,249 13 


1852, 


96,351 16 


5 


169,832 10 


7 


21,757 8 10 


1853, 


96,249 4 


4 


212,348 15 


10 


27,027 19 


1854, 


96,570 6 





276,397 2 


4 


29,032 18 2 


1855, 


93,802 12 


10 


494,342 13 


6 


21,884 5 11 



42 



PKIZE ESSAY. 






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PRIZE ESS AT. 43 



THE COTJISTTIES. 



The Townships along the shores of the Ba}^ of Quinte 
have been long settled, and are, almost without exception, 
exceedingly fertile, and of excellent soil. The original set- 
tlers were principally Americans, who, in the trj'ing times 
of the revolutionary war, pi'eserved imstained their at- 
tachment to Great Britain, and were known as United Em- 
pire Loyalists. A large number of these, headed by Sir 
John Johnston, selected the shores of the Bay, as the spot 
where they would draw the grants of land made to them 
by the Government, in acknowledgment of their services, 
of their loyalty and their losses. Alter the war very many 
adherents to the cause of the mother-country joined their 
friends in Canada, and drew land in the same neighbor- 
hood. Very good judgment was displayed in the selection 
they made. Some of the sites of the homesteads along the 
margin of this beautiful sheet of water, are in the most pic- 
turesque situations, and possess at the i^ame time all the 
advantages of the finest land. Three generations may be 
said to have passed away since these yeoman-warriors first 
laid the axe to the giant forest trees, that then covered the 
face of the country they had chosen as their home ; during 
that time the forest has gradually receded from around 
their well and substantially built dwellings ; even the un- 
sightly stumps and snake fences have disappeared, leaving 
in their place, level and straightly furrowed fields, surround- 
ed by good board fences, or dry stone walls, or perchnnce 
a quick-set hedge. The direct descendants of these earliest 
settlers now form the wealthiest yeomanry of the Counties : 
the younger branches spreading "themselves throughout the 
surrounding townships, or even to more distant places. — 
And well many of them deserve the prosperity they enjoy ; 
their forefathers having abandoned valuable lands, homes, 



44 PRIZE ESSAY. 

friends and country, to seek tlieir fortunes in the -wilder- 
ness, rather than swerve from that allegiance for which they 
had, most of them, risked their lives. 

The Townships, within these Counties, situated on the 
Bay shore, and consisting of Kingston, Fredericksburgh, 
Aclolphustown, Emesttown and Richmond, may all be con- 
sidered as well settled, populous, wealthy, and in a great 
measure well cultivated townships ; their particular features 
and relative wealth and population, will appear in the sta- 
tistical account of each. 

The population of the Townships of which these sturdy 
pioneers were the first settlers, possess features peculiar to 
the country of their adoption, and in habits and manners 
resemble more the people of some of the neighboring States, 
always excepting, in their ud deviating attachment to Great 
Britain. Many of the tastes, habits and ideas, imported 
with them when the country Avas young, are still adhered 
to, and mingle oddly with the luore modern and artificial 
notions which the present progressive age has engendered. 
More soldier than farmer, the United Empire Loyalist, 
though, in most instances, a man of intelligence, introduced 
but a primitive system of agriculture : and the facilities of 
acquiring lands in the western part of the Province, has in 
a measure prevented that mixture among them of the more 
scientific and educated agriculturalist from the old coun- 
tries, which has helped to improve other parts of Canada. 
It has only been of late years, and since the general estab- 
lishment of agricultural societies, that the real capabilities 
of these townships have begun to be developed, and im- 
provements been introduced, which have resulted in mak- 
ing, even in the neighborhood of Kingston, where the soil 
was looked on as comparatively unproductive, some of the 
best and handsomest farms that can be seen in the Pro- 
vince. 

It has been truly said by a brother essayest, that the 
characteristic of the Upper Canadian farmer was unques- 
tionably " plenty ;" there is no better exemplification of 
the truth of this statement than the features of the town- 
ships we are describing. Owning the soil in fee, lightly 
taxed, and with limited desires, the Bay of Quinte farmer 
is, in most instances, as independant a man as can any- 
where be met with. Unlike the settler, who has to pay 
cash for his land, he has been born the "monarch of all he 



PRIZE ESSAY. 45 

surveys," witli ample room and opportunity to acliieve a 
competence, where tlie former husbands his resources and 
his produce, and markets over bad roads the fruits of his 
labour and economy, reserving for his own use only, the 
least valuable or most unsaleable ; the latter drives to town 
or to the neighboring village, over roads fit for a carriage 
drive round a lawn, such surplus as he finds he cannot, af- 
ter indulging in a plenty bordering on profusion, consume 
at home. His wife and daughters dress in equally fine fa- 
brics, if not with equal elegance, as their city friends. The 
talented essayest, I have quoted above, describes a scene 
at a quarterly meeting at a Methodist meeting house, where 
he counted 23 pleasure waggons ; this was doubtlessly in a 
newer township than any now under consideration, for had 
he been present at the laying of the corner stone of the 
Grand Trunk Eailroad Station House in Ernesttown, or of 
the new Town Hall at Napauee, he would have found some 
difiiculty in numbering the pleasure carriages, the hand- 
some and spirited horses in harness, or under saddle ; the 
silk dresses, or superfine broadcloths, that graced the forms 
of the fair women and active men of this settlement. It is 
not to be imagined, however, that there are not many sad 
exceptions to tlie above picture of the prosperity of the 
yeomanry in these townships ; the sons of some of those 
men who have hewn out a home in the primitive forest, 
have, in some cases, through bad management or bad con- 
duct, suffered their possessions to pass to the stranger : the 
speculating merchant has grasped their all under a mort- 
gage, and indolence or dissipation has completed the ruin. 
The very taste above mentioned, for the showy productions 
of other lands, and finery in attire, is not likely to lessen 
the amount of the merchants mortgages. These evils, how- 
ever, are rapidly curing themselves, or producing an equiv- 
alent or greater amount of good — the idle and shiftless sells 
out to the practical and industrious farmer, who introduces 
among his neighbors the latest improvements in agricultural 
skill, and new implements of husbandry, new systems of 
drainage, new stock or improved breeds, occupy the atten- 
tion and employ the capital of the father of a family, whilst 
his wife and daughters, though well able to compete with 
the gayest and grandest, readily forego, when necessary, 
the imported and costly silk and velvet, sported by the 
family of a less enterprising neighbour, and set an example 
of neatness, taste and appropriateness, in attire. 



46 PRIZE ESSAY. 

TOWNSHIPS. 

The County of Frontenac contains tlie Townships of 
Kingston, Pittsburgh and Howe Island, Wolfe Island, 
Storrington, Loughborough, Portland, Ilinchinbrook, Bed- 
ford, Ossa, Olden and Kennebec, Barrie, Clarendon and 
Palmerston. 

Lennox contains Adolphustown, Fredericksbnrgh and 
Richmond ; and Addington, the townships of Amherst 
Island, Camden, Ernesttown, Sheffield, Kaladar and An- 
glesea. 

Of these, the Townships fronting on the River or the 
Bay are Pittsburgh and Kingston, in Frontenac; and Er- 
nesttown, Fredericksbnrgh, A<iolphustown and Richmond, 
in Lennox and Addington. To the townships along the 
bay the preceding remarks more particularly refer. These 
townships were laid out about the year 1783, and were 
named, as the reader need scarcely be told, after various 
members of the Royal Family of Great Britain, and prom- 
inent statesmen. Some of them, with certain townships in 
the adjoining counties of Prince Edward and Hastings, were 
formerly knt)\vn as first town, second town, and so on to 
tenth town, in the following order: — 1, Kingston: 2. Er- 
nesttown: 3. Frederick sburgh : 4. Adolphustown: 5. Ma- 
rysburgh : 6. Sophiasburg : 7. Ameliasburg : 8. Murray : 
9. Sidney : 10. Tiiurlow. Some old farmers still designate 
them by their numbers. 

TOWNSHIP OF KINGSTON. 

Kingston contains not only the city of that name, but 
various villages; one of the nearest to the cit}'-, is that of 
Waterloo, a very pretty and neat little hamlet, about three 
miles from town. It contains about 300 inhabitants, and 
has its Town Hall, Church, Stores, Inns, &c. 

In the neighborhood of this village is the Cataraqui 
Cemetery, laid out on a rising ground, crowned by a grove 
of small pine trees. Much care and skill in landscape gar- 
dening has been displaj'ed in rendering the grounds pic- 
turesque and pleasing ; a fine and extended view of the sur- 
rounding country, and a pretty glimpse of the bay is ob- 
tained from the Cemetery grounds. This spot is not excelled 
in beauty and a])propriateness by anything in the Province, 
and is compared by travellers, who view it, to Greenwood 



PRIZE ESSAY. 47 

Cemetery, in Brooklin. It covers some 65 acres of land, 
and when ornamented by such numerous and elegant mon- 
uments, as the liv■in^• have erected to mark their respect to 
the beloved dead in older jilaces of sepulture, will bo un- 
surpassed by the oldest and most beautiful Cemeteries 
known. 

Portsmouth is another village about equi-distant from 
Kingston with Waterloo, lying Westward on the Lake 
shore ; it was, at one time, a very bustling spot, and much 
enterprise was evinced in ship-liuilding. It suffered for a 
time from the withdrawal of the Seat of Government, and 
the construction of the St. Lawrence Canals, but has now 
recovered its former prosjierity, which promises to contin- 
ue. The ship-building business has revived, and is carried 
on with energy and success. In its neighborhood are sev- 
eral handsome houses and villa-i'esidences : the surround- 
ing country offering very inviting spots for building. It 
contains about 350 inhabitants, and a large amount ot rate- 
able property, and has an exceedingly neat unique litile 
Church, in old English style, with a belfry, and a parson- 
age; also, a chapel, a very extensive tannery, a brewery, 
a marine railway and ship-yard, and several other places 
of business. Contigious to it is the 

PROVI^'CIAL PENITENTIARY. 

An immense massive pile of stone buildings, surrounded 
by a lofty stone wall, flanked with towers. Its discipline 
and management are looked on as satisfactory to the pub- 
lic ; it is managed by a Warden and Board of Inspectors, 
appointed by the Provincial Government. Its affairs are 
reported on annually, and for that reason, and that it is not 
an institution purely local, it is not considered necessary 
here to enter very fully into its details. Il may be stated, 
however, that in connexion with it, it is contemplation to 
erect an Asylum for insane convicts. Parliament has 
granted £26,500 for this purpose, and the plan of the in- 
tended building is very spacious, and the design handsome 
and ornamental ; it will contain ample accommodation for 
the officers connected with it, and will be a valuable addi- 
tion to the public buildings of the City and County. A 
very healty and suitable spot outside the city limits, former- 
ly the property of the late John S. Cartwright, Esq., has 
been selected for its site. The following brief extract from 



48 PRIZE ESSAY. 

the last report of tlie Inspectors of the Penitentiary, shews 
the present annual cost to the Province of this Institution : 

1st January, 1855, cash on hand £ 858 9 2 

Government Grant for 1854 5,000 

Do. do. 1855 10,000 

Less debt due to the Provincial Penitentiary, 24 14 4 

£15,883 3 6 

31st December, 1855, cash on hand £ 402 4 11 

Debts reduced during the year 3,851 5 8 

Increase of Stock on hand 714 15 2^ 

Increase of Keal Estate 3,035 6 7 

Account against Lunatic Asjlum 442 15 7 

Award to Messrs. Stevenson 573 5 7 



£9,019 15 6i 
Exact cost to the Province during the year 6,863 9 11^ 

The total receipts and expenditure, and the value of 
the convict labour, is shown by the following statement : — ■ 

The Provincial Penitentiary Annual Balance Sheet with the 
Provincial Government, ending 31st December, 1855* 

Dr. 

Jan. 7, 1855. 

To balance as per last year's return ... £ 859 9 2 
Received from Government Grant, 

1854 5000 

Do. do. do. 1855 10000 

Stone Shed £1027 tS 1 

Carpenter's Shop 86 6 7 

Tailor's Shop 22 16 9 

Blacksmith's Shop 118 6 

Matron's Room 2 12 

Oakum 110 6 6 

Lime 21 11 2 

CoDTict contract labour. 7730 13 10 

9004: 1 5 

CONTINGENCIES. 

Rent Account 93 6 8 

Sundry Accounts 62 11 11 

Arch. Garrett 27 10 

James Gardiner 3 8 9 

Proceeds sale of Pork. . . 164 12 1 

Stable Account 51 13 4 

MUitary authorities 17 13 11 

"' 420 16 8 

£25,283 7 3 



V>1U2E ESSAY. 49 

Ck. 
Dec. 1855. 
By Vouchers No. 1 to 1096, transmitted 

to Auditor's Office £24,881 2 4 

Cashonhand... 402 4 1^ 

SUMMARY OF KXPSNDITUKK. 

Hospital.. £316 16 11 

Soap, Candles and Oil.... 347 13 8 

Contingencies 832 1 4 

Wood and Coal 1993 16 11 

Prison building 2368 14 10 

Clotbing and Bedding. . . 2584 

Furniture and Tools 161 9 5 

Provisions 8156 16 10 

Stable 702 7 10 

Stationary 63 8 10 

Library 15 5 

Oakum 24 10 11 

Convict's allowed 98 13 8 

Officer's pay 7215 6 2 

£24881 2 4 



£25,283 7 3 

TOWNSHIP OF KING.STOX — Continued. 

Witlain this Township, on the Rideau Canal, about 
five miles from the city is situated " Kingston Mills," — a 
pretty and picturesque spot, whose scenic beauties approach 
to grandeur ; they are heightened by that splendid speci- 
men of human art and skill, the Locks of the Kideau Ca- 
nal, by which vessels ascend a height of 45 feet through 
five capacious basins of hewn stone. At Kingston Mills is 
a very extensive Saw Mill, and a Tubular Bridge carries 
the Grand Trunk Railroad across the chasm formed by the 
stream and the lofty rocky banks. 

Through the Township runs a stream known as Col- 
lins' Creek, connected with a small, but pretty lake of the 
same name, on one side of the Township, and emptying it- 
self into the Bay of Quinte, at the other side, at Collins' 
Bay. Collins' Bay, now called Port Royal, or Collinsby, 
is about five miles west from Kingston. A beautiful and 
capacious harbor is formed there, by an indentation in the 
shores of the Bay of Quinte at the mouth of the creek wc 
have just named. There will be a station of the Grand 
Trunk Railroad here, and it is expected that a flourishing 
village will rapidly spring up. It consists at present of a 
Post Office, Inns, Shops, and a cluster of neat dwellings, 
forming the nucleus ot what will doubtlessly prove a thriv- 

G 



50 PEIZE ESSAY. 

ing town. On Collins' Creek are several good substantial 
grist and saw mills. 

A small portion of the lands in Kingston, particularly 
along the Kingston and Napanee Eoad, is of little value 
and rocky, such part lying, as it does, in the neighborhood 
of the city, gives an unfavorable impression of the sur- 
rounding country generally. It has been found, however, 
that with a little outlay of labor, the larger part of it can 
be rendered, not merely serviceable, but highly productive. 
On some farms, once deemed of little value, the stones 
have been cleared away, and the soil, by proper treatment, 
made to yield largely. It will surprise some to be told that 
many tracts of land, within the township of Kingston, have 
produced an average of 40 bushels of wheat per acre. The 
truth is that lands in this neighborhood have been very 
much underrated ; it is true that they require more care 
and outlay than the heavily timbered rich alluvial lands in 
the west, which after clearing, require scarcely any treat- 
ments at all ; but now that attention is being turned to their 
nature and acquirements, it is seen that they yield a fair 
return for the care and outlay they demand, and also, that 
being in many places a retentive clay soil on a limestone 
formation, and capable of great improvement by drainage, 
they will bear a succession of crops without impoverish- 
ment, while good roads, a healthy climate, and other ad- 
vantages counterbalance the ejfuberant fertility that may 
perhaps be found elsewhere. 

The quantity of land in the township is reckoned in 
the last census at 47,906 acres, the whole of which is taken 
up and mostly settled on, and 21,575 acres, were, when such 
census was taken, and a much greater quantity, about 26,500 
is now under cultivation. The rateable property is reck- 
oned at £275,000 : the population at about 6,000 : about 
40 per cent on this, or 8,500, would approach its present 
population. Ten years ago the assessed property was only 
reckoned at £7i,000 : theland clearedat 16,218 acres. It 
must be borne in mind, however, that a different method 
of estimating the value of assessable property has been a- 
dopted since that period. Wild lands were formerly as- 
sessed at a certain fixed rate ; cleared lands at a certain 
higher rate, without regard to their actual value ; now the 
land assessed, both cleared and wild together, is rated at 
what the assessor deems its actual value. The cleared 



PRIZE ESSAY. 51 

land not being distinguished from the wild in the assstao- 
ment rolls, under the present system, prevents any degree 
of certainty being arrived at^ as to the actual increase of 
cultivated land since the last census was taken. 

There are in Kingston, (township,) 7 places of wor- 
ship — many of them built of stone; 20 school houses, of 
stone, brick and wood; grist mills, 2; saw mills, 12; tan- 
neries, 4; carding and fulling mills, 2; 1 ship yard and 
marine railway. 

The Township was laid out as early as 1783, and was 
known, before the division, of tlie Provinces, as Seignorj 
No. 1. 

There are within its boundaries, (apart from the streets 
of the city,) 50 miles of well finished macadamized roads, 
while the concession and side roads are very good, and well 
kept in repair. 

Portions of Kingston township were settled when the 
city and neighborhood were first located in 1783: since 
then, especially after the war of 1812, many U. E. Loyal- 
ists and their friends, and disbanded sokliers, have settled 
here. Of later years settlers from the British Isles have 
become mixed among them. The cultivated land in this 
township, for farming purposes, may be averaged as worth 
from £5 to £10 per acre. In the immediate neighboi hood 
of the city no average can be made, much of it is very val- 
uable, and varies in price, of course, according to its eligi- 
bility of position. The farms also vary in price, according 
to the description of buildings upon them. The returns 
lor this township for 1852, shew the following products as 
raised that year. To these, about 25 per cent, would give 
about its present products, except in vegetables, when 50 
per cent, might fairly be added. Wheat, 18,832: Barley, 
2,515: Rye, 11,525": Peas, 19,215: Oats, 58,370: Buck- 
wheat, 4,270 : Indian Corn, 7,789 : Potatoes, 22,448 : 
Turnips, 1,065: Grass Seed, 35 bus.: Carrots, 1,484: 
Mangel Wurtzel, 100 bus. : Beans, 68 : Hops, 98 lbs. : Hay 
6,974 tons: Flax or Hemp, 45 lbs.: Wool, 13,192 lbs. : 
Maple Sugar, 14,442 lbs. : Cider, 376 gals. : Full Cloth, 
2,553 : Flannel, 4,596 yds: Bulls, Oxen & Steers, 600: Milch 
Cows, 2,003: Calves or Heifers, 1,483: Horses, 1,409: 
Sheep, 4,729: Pigs, 3,524: Butter, 113,721 lbs: Cheese, 
17,403 : Beef, 317 bbls : Pork, 1,540 bbls. 



52 I'KIZE EfJSAY. 



TOWNSHIP OF PJTTSBURaH.. 



The Township of Pittsburgh, in the County of Fron- 
Lenac, contains, in all, about 78,800 acres — a portio]) of 
which is flooded by the Eideau Canal. 42,078 acres are 
taken up, and 11,447, in 1851, were under cultivation. — 
Since that year a large number of acres have been added 
to those before cultivated. The assessed property is reck- 
oned now, in 1856, at £100,000: population in 1852, 
8,288, to which an increase of, say 10 per cent, per annum, 
would make tlie present number of inhabitants some 5,000. 
Ten years ago the rateable property was assessed at £24,- 
160 ; the population was reckoned at 2,132, and tlie cul- 
tivated land at 6,231 acres. Pittsburgh is joined to 
Kingston by a bridge, which was built about the year 
1829, and re-built, except tlie piers, in 1845. It spans 
the great Cataraqui River, the outlet of the Rideau 
Canal, and is a third of a mile in length. A draw bridge 
affords a passage to steamers and other craft. The land 
in the Township of Pittsburgh is of varied quality — some 
of it very rich and fertile, other parts rocky and unproduc- 
tive. There are in it some good and well cultivated farms, 
and handsome and well built residences line the river side. 
Close to Kingston is the pretty village of Barrietield, nam- 
ed after Commodore Barrie, the head of the Naval Depart- 
ment here for many years. Barrieiield has its handsome, 
substantially built stone church, and several large well 
fmislied stone houses. It forms a sort of suburb to the 
city, and though not a place of much increase, has been 
long settled. It lies on an elevated ground, and from it 
the visitor obtains a very favorable and pleasing view of 
Kingston, with its harbour, forts and towers,. At Barrie- 
tield are built the best small craft, skiffs and pleasure boats 
in use throughout the Province. They are sent hence to all 
parts, and their character and build are well known to the 
aquatic sportsman and amateur mariner. Not only in the 
Province, but abroad, these boats are sought after and in 
use — some of them being now afloat on the Lake of Gene- 
va. The Kingston, Pittsburgh and Gananoque, and the 
Kingston and Phillipsville Macadamized Roads run through 
this township, opening up the townships beyond, and af- 
fording to the settler a ready access to a never-failing mar- 
ket. Within this township are upwards of 88 miles of 



PRIZE ESSAY. Od 

thorougUy macadamized roads, besides good country roads 
to and between the concessions. That part of Pittsburgh 
where Barriefield stands, and for about two miles eastward 
was formerly part of the Townsliip of Kingston. When 
the site of the Town of Kingston w^as first selected, the spot 
where this village is situated was suggested, but was over- 
ruled in favor of the present locality of Kingston, which 
certainly offered greater advantages for the site of a city. 

THE EIDEAU CANAL. 

The Eideau Canal forms the western boundary of the 
township, and a quantity of land has been drowned in its 
formation. On it are erected several substantial saAV mills, 
not working only a single upright saw, as in former days 
most sawmills did, but containing several gangs of saws, 
consisting 'of some 30 saws in each gang, and cutting and 
dressing lumber of every description, and turning out very 
many thousand feet dail}^ One of these at Kingston Mills 
is worked by an American compan}^, and contains three 
gangs of saws, one with 32 saws, one Avith 20 and one with 
two saws, a lath, mill edger, &o. Another further up the 
river, at a place known as Brewer's Mills, has not less pow- 
er, extent of business, &c., than that at Kingston Mills, and 
drives an equal amount of saws, with a lath mill, dresser, 
&c. These mills turn out each some 30,000 feet, on an 
average, every twenty-four hours, and employ some £10,000 
or £12,000 per annum in the lumber trade. There is a 
good water privilege at what is known as lower Brewer's 
Mills, which is not at present occupied, but awaits only 
the necessary enterprize and capital to make it as valuable 
as those above mentioned. There is also a steam saw mill 
in the village. There are in this township three places of 
■worship — two of them Episcopal churches, one of which is 
a massive stone church with a tower, and the other a very 
neat wooden ediilce, and 15 school houses. The soil.inthis 
township, except on the stone ridges in the neighborhood 
of the lakes, is varied from clay and sand to a rich black 
loam on a subsoil of retentive clay ; on the ridges it is, of 
course, light and shallow, but betw^een them, what are in 
local parlance called "interval lands," are well watered, 
and particularly rich and fertile. They afford the very 
finest pasturage ; some of the fattest cattle and sheep in the 
Counties, perhaps in the Province, have been raised on 



54 PRIZE ESSAY. 

them. In this township has recently been established a 
very extensive uurser}^ of the choicest grafted fruit trees. 
The proprietor has set out some 100,000 trees the present 
year, and purposes to add to that number at the same rate 
annually, to meet the demand he finds already will exist 
for his stock. This valuable addition to the resources of 
the neighborhood, is situated about four miles from the 
city on the banks of the St. Lawrence. 

HOWE ISLAND. 

Connected with the Township of Pittsburgh for 
Municipal purposes, but otherwise a Township by itself, is 
Howe Island, lying in the St. Lawrence, immediately op- 
posite the shores of Pittsburgh. It contains about 8,000 
acres. On it are some very excellent farms under good 
cultivation and chiefly worked for dairy purposes, the soil 
being well adapted for pastarage. Simcoe or Gage Island, 
forms part of the Township of Howe Island. It contains 
about 2164 acres of very rich pasture land. 

TOWNSHIP OF PITTSBURGH — Continued. 

Pittsburgh returns as below the products for 1852. 
To show its present products fifty per cent, at least should 
be added to these figures. Wheat, 16,426 bus. ; Barley, 
684 bus. ; Eye, 2,450 bus. ; Peas, 11,738 bus. ; Oats, 30,464 
bus.; Buck Wheat, 562 bus.; Indian Corn, 8,232 bus.; 
Potatoes, 9,195 bus.; Turnips, 1,211 bus.; Grass Seed, 22 
bus. ; Carrots, 343 bus. ; Mangle Wurtzel, 550 bus. ; Beans, 
46 bus. ; Hops, 100 lbs.; Hay, 4,067 tons; Wool, 8,984 
lbs. ; Maple Sugar, 1,917 lbs.; Cider, 174 gals. ; Full Cloth, 
1,180 yds. ; Flannel, 2,791 ; Bulls, Oxen and Steers, 670 ; 
Milch Cows, 1,102; Calves or Heifers, 1,236; Horses, 695; 
Sheep, 2,959; Pigs, 1,564; Butter 55,316 lbs.; Cheese, 
3,988 lbs.; Beef, 1,002 bis.; Pork, 791 bis. Improved 
Farms on leading roads are worth from £3 to £6. Wild 
lands, from 10s. to 40s. ; some well cleared and well culti- 
vated farms on the banks of the St. Lawrence, much exceed 
in value the price named. 

TOWNSHIP OF ERNESTTOWN. 

Enesttown in Addington, is one of the most fertile, 
best settled and wealthy Townships in these Counties. It 



TEIZE ESSAY. 55 

is one of those first settled by tlie United Empire Loyalists. 
In it are several thriving villages ; one of these, Bath, is 
on the margin of the Bay^of Qninte, some eighteen miles 
from Kingston. Bath now contains about 1000 inhabitants. 
This Village was laid out at an early period, when the 
Township was first settled in 1784. The Episcopal Church 
in Bath was built in 1794, and is the oldest Church in 
Canada West, except one at Sandwich. There are in the 
Village besides the Episcopal Church, a Methodist Chapel, 
one Grammar School, one Common School, 4 Manufac- 
tories, I Tannery, 1 Foundry, 2 Carriage Makers' Shops, 
from which are annually sold about 200 Carriages at an 
aggregate value of $25,000. Bath is a port of entry and 
from it have been exported to the United States during 
the past year : 

Barley and Eye 74,027 bushels. 

Peas 7,562 

Wheat 2,908 

Flour 26 barrels. 

Planks and Boards 571,119 feet. 

Fire Wood 50 cords. 

Fish 50 barrels. 

The value of which is about as shewn below; 

Product of the Water £ 50 

" " Forest 1,902 

Animals and their products 95 

Agricultural products 22,168 16 8 

Total Value £24,216 8 

Value of importations from the United States,£5,864 12 9^ 
Duties collected £638 18 11 

The amount stated as value of exports, does not in- 
clude the value of articles exported elsewhere than to the 
United States, viz. : Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, &c. ; nor 
does that stated as value of imports include anything but 
imports from the United States. 

The total amount of exports and imports for the last 
five years, with the amount of duties collected, is shewn in 
the following statement : — 



PKlZa ESSAY. 



DUTIBS COLLlCtlO. 



1851, £5356 15 4 £2462 11 3 £421 7 

1852, 4229 18 8 3831 649 2 7 
1858, 4344 19 7 2705 8 4 410 5 

1854, 12,569 6 8378 2 9 450 10 4 

1855, 24,284 11 5720 10 4 637 19 5 

There is a shipyard at Bath, where a number of ves- 
sels are annually built. The first Canadian steamer that 
plied on Lake Ontario, was built at Bath in 1817. A large 
number of workmen are constantly employed in the ship- 
yard. There is also a saw mill in the village. 

Wilton, on the other or North side of the Township, 
is another thriving village, with about 250 inhabitants, and 
has its grist mills, saw mills, tanneries, &c. Two streams 
cross this township, one known as Big Creek, the other 
as Mill Creek. The latter connects with a small sheet of 
water with the classic cognomen of Mud Lake, and also 
with Gold Lake and Sloat's Lake, in the adjoining town- 
ships, and falls into the Bay of Quinte. Big Creek falls 
into Hay Bay, in the Township of Fredericksburgh. Both 
these streams feed several grist mills, saw mills and manu- 
factories. On Mill Creek is a neat Village, formerly bear- 
ing the same name, but recently named " Odessa," where 
the Napanee Macadamized Road crosses that stream. At 
Odessa are three places of worship, one grist and saw mill, 
one large woollen factory, with carding, falling, spinning, 
and weaving machines, a planing and dressing machine, a 
hob factory, and a sash and door factory, and a neat clus- 
ter of good houses : the inhabitants number about 850. 

There is a station of the Grand Trunk Railroad in 
this township at Link's Mills, or Linksville, where a vil- 
lage is rapidly springing up. A handsome stone station 
house, passenger house and sheds, have already been built 
there. 

Ernesttown contains about 68,644 acres, all of which 
is taken up. In 1846, the land taken up was said to be 
59,447 acres, 22,507 of which were under cultivation; 
rateable property, £64,000 ; population 4,317. In 1852, 
the land under cultivation was 35,563; rateable property, 
£800,000; population, 5,111, making upwards of 13,000 
acres which have been brought under cultivation between 
the years 1846 and ISol and '52. The enterprise and in- 



PIUZE ESSAY. 57 

dustry of the popuLition of tliis township hnvo not decreas- 
ed smce 1851, and their improvements have continued at 
the same ratio, which would give another 13,000 acres cul- 
tivated- even if it has not with the mcreased population 
been exceeded, we may fairly reckon that two-thirds of the 
whole townshijj are now under cultivation. The present 
population, at the average increase before assumed, v/ould 
be about 7,155. There are, in Ernesttovvn, ciglit places of 
worship, seven grist mills, nine saw mills, one large wool- 
len factory, one carding and fulling mill, and one plaster 
mill, and 21 school houses. Some of these milling estab- 
lishments are very extensive. The land in Ernesttown is, 
as has been before incidentally mentioned, of the very best 
quality. There is also another small, but neat and thriv- 
ing village on the Bay of Quinto, in this township, where 
Mill Creek enters the bay, known as Mill Haven. Here 
are a Post Ofhce, and Registry Office for the Counties of 
Lennox and Addmgton, some good inns and neat residen- 
ces, and a population of some 200 to 300. In this town- 
ship there are 20 miles of thoroughly macadamized road, 
besides side and concession roads, partly stoned, and in 
good order and well kept. 

The soil in ErnestcoAvn differs in some degree from that; 
of the other townships, in being more sandy; in most parts 
it consists of a fine sandy loain, not sufificienily light, how- 
ever, except in very few places, to effect its fertility, and 
is underlaid, as the other townships, with lime stone. The 
land in this township is worth from £5 to £10 per acre. 
There are no wild lands save what have been reserved for 
fuel. Some of the farms are very good and valuable, fur- 
nished with fine orchards, and comfortable and substantial 
stone dwelling houses, outbuildings and offices. Returns 
for 1852, to which may be safely added 30 per cent. : — • 
Wheat, 25,672 bush.; Barley, 13,869 ; Rye,38,6W; Peas, 
48,706; Oats, 989,800 ; Buckwheat, 2,608 ; Indian Corn, 
23,027; Potatoes, 20,939 ; Turnips, 716; Grass Seed, 602 ; 
Carrots, 1,397 ; Mangle Wurtzel, 635 ; Beans, 229 ; Hops, 
457 lbs.; Hay, 9,547 tons; Flax, 392 lbs. ; Tobacco, 120; 
Wool, 28,205 ; Maple Sugar, 13,504 lbs. ; Cider, 15,902 
galls.; Full Cloth, 5,312 yards; Linen, 325; Flannel, 
8,973; Bulls, Oxen and Steers, 1025; Milch Cows, 3,090; 
Calves or Heifers, 2,505; Horses, 2,243; Sheep, 10,759 ; 

H 



68 FKIZK ESSAT. 

Pigs, 3,023; Butter, 201,180 lbs.; Cheese, 40,425; Beef, 
96 bbls. ; Pork, 716 ; Fish, 141 bbls. 

TOWNSHIP OF FREDERICKSBUKGH. 

Fredericksburgh, in Lennox, is another of the fine old 
settled townships, bordering on the Bay, and in features, 
very much like that of Ernesttown. It is beautifully wa- 
tered — ^branches of the Bay of Quinte embracing it, as it 
"were, and one, Hay Bay, running up and extending itself 
in its centre. It is one of the townships referred to in the 
previous sketch; it contains 40,215 acres, the whole of 
which have been taken up, and about 20,777 acres, in 1852, 
were under cultivation, several thousands have since been, 
doubtlessly, added to that number ; population, in 1852, 
3,166 — at present about 5,500 ; rateable property, (1856,) 
£195,000. In 1846, the land under cultivation was esti- 
mated at 18,9 16 acres; population, 2,949 ; rateable proper- 
ty, £47,243. There are three grist mills, five saw mills, 
five places of worship, and 17 schools in this township. — 
Opposite to this, and the other townships on the Bay, 
sti-etches that beautiful, well settled, and fertile district, the 
County of Prince Edward, the shores of which, with those 
of the townships mentioned, render the scenery and beau- 
ties of this part of our country so deservedly celebrated. — • 
At Fredericksburgh, the Bay of Quinte may, strictly 
speaking, be said to commence, as there the real bay, or 
arm of the lake begins ; the traveller has now passed on 
his passage upwards, the Upper Gap, and is fairly within 
the Bay; the Upper Gap is between Amherst Island and 
the Prince Edward County : the Lower Gap being at the low- 
er or eastern end of Amherst Island, above Kingston. The 
whole extent of water sheltered by Amherst Island, and the 
County of Prince Edward, down to Kingston, is, however, 
generally designated the Bay of Quinte ; the part above the 
Upper Gap being often called the Upper Bay. The land 
in Fredericksburgh is of the very best and finest descrip- 
tion : out of the whole 40,000 acres, it is said that there 
are not 500 acres of bad land. There are some very good and 
productive orchards, and altogether the land and farms in 
this township are, perhaps, the best in the counties. — 
Many very pretty spots along the margin of the bay in 
this and the adjoining townships, attract the eye of the 
tourist ; some of these are built on, some yet unoccupied. 



I 



PRIZE ESSAY. 59 

They are indeed not always appreciated by the owners, 
who when possessed by a desire to remove westward, 
sometimes sell at a very moderate sum. The forced spec- 
ulation prices at which lands are held in the west have not, 
as yet, materially affected this district. Cleared lands for 
farming purposes in this township, are worth, on an aver- 
age, from £5 to £10 per acre. Good harbours and landing 
places are situated along the shores of the bay, in these 
and the opposite townships, at intervals of some ten miles 
apart. The following brief little sketch of the appearance 
of the shores of this township is by Mrs, Moodie : — ** We 
" approach Fredericksburgh : this too is a pretty place, on 
" the North side of the Bay ; beautiful orchards and mea- 
" dows skirt the water, and fine bass wood and willow- trees 
"grow besides or bend over the waves. The green smooth 
" meadows, out of whicfi the black stumps rotted long ago, 
" show noble groups of hickory and butternut, and sleek 
" fat cows are reposing beneath them, or standing mid-leg 
"in the small creek that wanders through them, to pour 
"its fairy tribute into the broad bay." The products of 
this township for 1852, on which some increase has taken 
place, say 15 or 20 per cent., are given as follows : — 
Wheat, 15,286 bush.; Barley, 12,681 : Eye, 29,614: Peas, 
34,204: Oats, 51,838: Buckwheat 12,700 : Indian Corn, 12,- 
467: Potatoes, 9,697: Turnips, 803: Grass Seed, 468: 
Carrots, 527 : Mangle Wurtzel, 123 : Beans, 199 : Hops, 
139 lbs. : Hay, 4,094 tons : Flax or Hemp, 40 lbs. : To- 
bacco, 146 lbs. : Wool, 16,408 lbs. : Maple Sugar, 9,894 
lbs. : Cider, 7,920 gals. : Full Cloth, 2,618 yards : Flannel 
5,454 yards: Bulls, Oxen and Steers, 842 : Milch Cows, 
1,650: Calves and Heifers, 1,440: Horses, 1,340: Sheep, 
6,393 : Pigs, 2,718 : Butter, 106,828 lbs. : Cheese, 30,184 
lbs.: Beef, 290 bbls. : Pork, 1,975 bbls.: Fish, 36 bbls. 

TOWNSHIP OF ADOLPHUSTOWK. 

Adolphustown, in the County of Lennox, is a small 
Township containing only some 11,459 acres, the whole of 
which are taken up, and in 1851, 7365 acres were under 
cultivation, population about 1000 in 1852, now about 1400. 
There arc in this Township 1 Grist and 3 Saw Mills. 
Adolphustown fronts on the Bay of Quinte or rather is 
surrounded on all sides but the North-east by the Bay, and 



GO PRIZE ESSAY. 

divicled by a brancli of it, "IL\y Bay," which also Ttms np 
into Fredericksburgh. This To\\'nship was early settled 
and is one of those described in the commencement of the 
remaiks on the Covinties, there are 6 stores, H places of 
worship and 7 School Houses in the Township, The laud, 
like that in Fredericksburgh is good, and there are numer- 
ous fine orchards and good famis in the Township, the soil 
is very similar to that in Fredericksburgh, being a stiff 
loam, and the timber is principally hardwood, with a little 
pine. The average value of land in Adolphustown is 
about from £5 to £10 per acre. 

There are no lands held by the Govennnent for sale in 
this Township now, but improved farms can always be 
bought at moderate prices, they being held in many in- 
stances by the descendants of the first settlers, whom a de- 
sire for cliange, or the mania for going west induces them 
t ) part with them. ( opposite this Township, in the County 
of Prince Edward, which forms the other shore of the Bay 
(;1 Quinte, is the much talked natural phenomenon, the 
Lake on the Mountain, At the South-western extremity 
of Adolphustown is a ferry across the Bay. The returns 
of 1851 and 3852 thus state Adolphustown : Wheat, 5,780 
bus. ; Barley, '2,105 bus. ; Eye, 5,280 bus. ; Peas, 8,341 
bus.; Oats, 8,670 bus.; Buckwheat, 1,904 bus.: Indian 
Corn, 1,021 bus.; Potatoes, 3,175 bus. ; Turnips, 270 bus.; 
Grass Seed, 375 bus.; Carrots, 184 bus. ; Beans, 44 bus.; 
Hops, 51 lbs.; Hay, 1,195 tons; Wood, 4,075 cords; 
Maple Sugar, 2,357 "lbs.; Cider, 4,229 gals.; Full Cloth, 
399 yds.; Linen, 22; Flannel, 1,115 ; "Bulls, Oxen and 
Steers, 137 ; Milch Cows 448 ; Calves or Heifers, 364; Horses 
382 ; Sheep, 1,680 ; Piys, 902 ; Butter, 25,380 lbs. ; 
Cheese, 8,722 ; Beef, 77 bbls. ; Pork, 667 bbls., to which 
may be added 15 or 20 per cent., or even more, to estimate 
the present products, 

AMHERST ISLAND. 

Amherst Island belongs to the County of Addington. 
It is a very beautiful and richly fertile strip of land, at the 
estuary of tlie Bay of Quinte, and forms the principal 
break- water between the lower bay, or that ])art of the bay 
between the upper and lower gaps and the lake. It con- 
tains about 14,015 acres, the whole of which was long since 



i 



PEIZE ESSAY. 61 

taken up. In 1851, the land under cultivation was reck- 
oned at 8,468 acres ; since that time the cultivated land 
has greatly increased ; population in 1851, 1,287, now a- 
bout 1,800 ; rateable property in 1846, £5,700, in 1856, 
£11,185. This island was called by the French, " the Isle 
of Tante," a name which it still occasionally bears; the 
soil is very fertile and productive, and some very fine farms 
are cultivated here, and some of the choicest and best cat- 
tle and other stock raised. The township was early set- 
tled, simultaneously, probably, with the opposite shores. — 
It is said that the Mohawk Indians, who accompanied Sir 
John Johnston to this Province, claimed this, and very 
many other lands as their own, and that they ceded their 
right (if any they had,) to Col. Crawford, who accompan- 
ied Sir John Johnston, and that Col. Crawford transferred 
his claim to Sir John. However, this may be, the Gov- 
ernment recognised the claim of Sir John Johnston, and 
the land was patented to him, in consideration of the im- 
mense sacrifices he had made in the loss of the vast posses- 
sions of his father on the Mohawk, and elsewhere in the 
United States, and of his loyalty and good service to his 
country. Since that time the island has passed from the 
hands of the Johnston family to the Earl of Mount Cashel, 
who still owns it, save such portions as he has conveyed, 
and it is chiefly held by tenants under lease from him. — 
The island, on some old maps, is marked "Sir John John- 
ston's Island." There is an Episcopal church and resident 
clergyman on the island, and several other places of wor- 
ship, with five schools. The Bay of Quinte steamers touch 
here on their way up and down the bay ; in winter the 
Bay of Quinte is regularly frozen over, and the finest and 
smoothest sleigh-roads brings the Isle of Tante, and the 
villages and farms along the bay, into direct, easy and 
pleasant commuaication with the City of Kingston, whilst 
in summer, either the steamers or macadamized roads ar« 
within accessible distance of almost every man's door. — 
Cleared lands in this township are worth from £5 to £7. 
The returns for this township in 1852 were as follows, 
and to them 50 per cent, at least should be added for the'pre- 
sent products. Wheat, 9,004; Barley, 2,462 ; Eye, 6,135; 
Peas, 11,127; Oats, 24,444; Buckwheat, 889; Indian 
Corn, 3,346; Potatoes, 5,193; Turnips, 176; Grass Seed, 
17; Carrots, 413; Hay, 1,219 tons; Flax or Hemp, 70 lbs; 



62 PBIZK ESSAY. 

Wool, 7,678 lbs; Maple Sugar, 555 ; Fulled Cloth 475 yds. ; 
Flannel, 2,079 ; Bulls, Oxen and Steers, 159 ; Milch Cows 
668 ; Calves or Heifers, 613 ; Horses, 449 ; Sheep, 2,688 ; 
Pigs, 1,842; Butter, 40,855; Cheese, 9,230 lbs.; Beef, 
182 ; Pork, 777 barrels ; Fish, cured, 122 bbls. In some 
items 100 per cent, on these figures would not exceed the 
present yield. Considerable attention has been paid in 
this township to the importation of thorough bred stock, 
and the improvement of the breeds of cattle and sheep. A 
large amount of imported stock is owned here. One ex- 
hibitor, with 10 Ayrshire cattle from this township, took 
ten prizes at the last Provincial Agricultural Show. Lei- 
cester sheep are bred in great numbers : 100 of these 
sheep were sold in one drove last year, by one farmer on 
the island, for the sum of £210 to an American drover, to 
be slaughtered for the New York market. To shew the 
increase of productions grown here, it may be stated, that 
to one house in Oswego was last year shipped 8,000 bush- 
els of barley, and 10,000 bushels of rye. The past spring, 
(1856,) 9,000 bushels of wheat were sent from here to one 
large firm in Kingston. There is a ship yard on this is- 
land, where a very fair business is carried on. 

The soil in this, like that of the surrounding town- 
ships, is a rich black loam, on a subsoil of clay over a 
limestone formation, and is very suitable for all the usual 
agricultural productions ; the wheat grown is principally 
spring wheat, for which the farmers plough in the autumn, 
and sow early in the spring. A Township Agricultural 
Society has, for some time, been established here, and more 
interest in the progress of that all-important science is 
shewn than in some other townships. 

TOWNSHIP OF RICHMOND. 

Richmond, in the County of Lennox, is the last of the 
townships lying on the Bay within these Counties. It 
adjoins Tyendenaga, in the County of Hastings, a spot 
named after the great Indian warrior, whose tribe still 
partly people it. Tyendenaga, however, not being within 
the Counties to which this notice is limited, it is noi in- 
tended to describe it here, but the early history of the set- 
tlement, the Indians there settled, in connection with 
their chief and his family and tribe, would be found 



PlilZK ESSAY. 68 

well worth considering. Many of Brandt's descendants 
and collateral connexions are well known in the Province 
and in these Counties, and his history, and that of his fam- 
ily and tribe, are interwoven with the early annals of the 
colony. 

Kichmond contains the prosperous Village of Napa- 
nee, on the main road from Kingston westward, and on the 
river of that name. This place is rapidly increasing in 
wealth and size. It divides with Newburgh in Camden, 
and Linksville in Ernesttown, the claims to be chosen as 
the County Town of Lennox and Addington, when they 
shall be separated from Frontenac. It contains some very 
extensive mills and factories, and a very large amount of 
lumber is annually shipped there to different parts in Ca- 
nada and the United States. The Napanee is navigable as 
far up as the village, where there is a natural fall of the 
water of about 30 feet, and the facilities for propelling ma- 
chinery are very great. Napanee is an incorporated vil- 
lage, having been incorporated in 1854; it contains from 
1,500 to 2,000 inhabitants, and its rateable property is val- 
ued at £85,000. There are in Napanee — the name of 
which is derived from an Indian word, signifying " Flour" 
— two grist mills, Avith three run of stones in each, and 
to one of which is attached an Oatmeal mill, three saw 
mills, one of which is on a very extensive scale. Of church- 
es, there is the Episcopal church, built of stone, the Wes- 
leyan Methodist, Episcopal Methodists, and a Eoman Cath- 
olic church is in course of erection ; a Town Hall has been 
commenced, and will be, when completed, a handsome 
building. There is a Grammar School and two Common 
Schools here, two tanneries, one very extensive foundry, 
two cabinet maker's shops, with the machinery driven by 
water-power, one carding and fulling mill and cloth factory, 
and a planing machine : Post Office and Custom Ilouse, 
and a Bonding Warehouse. Napanee is a port of entry. 
The exports and imports for the past five years, with the 
duties collected, are as follows: — 

KXPOBTS. IMPORTS. 

£5655 
6050 
6429 
6203 

8422 



1851, 


£1079 


4- 


9 


1852, 


13,958 


18 


6 


1853, 


26,869 


8 


10 


1854, 


20,318 


2 





1855, 


26,772 


6 


6 



rs. 

3 


10 


DUTIBS COLLBCTBD. 

£861 14 1 


3 


8 


931 11 3 


17 


5 


873 15 10 


18 


9 


829 14 11 


18 


7 


788 17 2 



64 PRIZB ESSAY. 

There is a station of the Grand Trunk Railroad at this 
village, and a very handsome viaduct of stone and iron, 
which is elsewhere mentioned. Napanee is spoken of as a 
" Village," as in strict definition, it is an " Incorporated 
Tillage," which to all intent and purposes is a Town, The 
old country reader will keep this in mind, and not think 
of a hamlet with its cluster of cottages and village inn. 

There are two Printing offices, and two semi-weekly 
newspapers are published here. Napanee was first settled 
as early as 1784. It lies very prettily on the high banks 
of the river, and the approach to it is very pleasing to the 
eye. Good roads diverge from it in all directions. A large 
amount of business has always been done here, of which 
the lumbering trade has formed a chief item. 

The return of products for the Township of Eichmond 
for 1852 to which may be safely added 50 per cent to shew 
present produce, are as follows: — Wheat, 9,215 bushels; 
Barley, 733 bus.; Rye, 15,845 bus.; Peas, 21,682 bus. ; 
Oats, 43,907 bus.; Buckwheat 10,955; Indian Corn 8,586 
bus.; Potatoes 10,386 bus.; Turnips, 641 bus.; Grass 
Seed, 68 bus. ; Carrots, 301 bus. ; Mangle Wurtzel, 31 bus.; 
Beans, 150 bus. ; Hay, 3,140 tons ; Flax or Hemp, 190 
lbs.; Wool, 13,348 ; Maple Sugar, 8510; Cider, 805 gals; 
Full Cloth, 2,914 yds.; Linen, 86 ; Flannel, 8409 ; Bulls, 
Oxen and Steers, 952 ; Milch Cows, 1582 ; Calves or 
Heifers, 1,402 ; Horses, 1050 ; Sheep, 5383 ; Pigs, 2692 ; 
Butter, 108,321 lbs. ; Cheese, 4901 ; Beef, 272 bbls.; Pork 
1646 bbls. 

Cleared land, for farming purposes, is worth from £3 
to £5 per acre in this township, and wild lands from 10s. 
to 25s. There is a Township Agricultural Society in Rich- 
mond : its fairs are usually held at Napanee. Richmond 
contains about 50,000 aci-es of land, about 40,000 of which 
is located, and nearly 20,000 under cultivation : it contains 
a population of some 6,000, and assessed proj)erty to the 
amount of £110,000. There are in it, one grist mill and 
seven saw mills, and one woollen factory. The most of 
the available land in this township is settled on, only some 
1,200 appearing in the returns of 1852 to be taken up 
over what is shewn in 1846 ; the cleared land, however, 
appears in 1846, at only 10,301 acres : in 1852, at 15,923, 
making an increase of "^nearly 6,000 acres in the inter ven- 



PRIZB ESSAY. 60 

ing period. The rateable property, in 18J:6, is stated at 
£38,029. There are in Kichniond"'l8 schools. 

TOWNSHIP OF LOUGHBOROUGH. 

The To^Ynship of Loughborougli, in Frontenac, con- 
tains an area of some 52,000 acres, — a large part of which, 
however, is covered by the numerous lakes, of which the 
principal one is Loughborough Lake. The land in the 
front of this township is very good, consisting of a rich 
black soil, on a clay bottom. It lias been settled for some 
time, and the log houses of the inhabitants huve in moi t 
instances been replaced by good stone dwellings, surround- 
ed by all the necessary out-houscs and well filled barns. 
At the back of the township, the land is not so unbroken, 
the lakes intervening, with occasional stone ridges, be- 
tween which, however, arc intervals of rich lands, well 
calculated for pasturage, 

Sydenham is a very thriving village, situated at the 
outlet of Sloat's lake, on the Sydenham road. It lias been 
laid out some ten years, and contains about 300 inhabitants. 
In its immediate neighborhood are some very line farms ; 
At Sydenham is a stone (Episcopal), church, one grist 
mill, one saw mill, two di^^till cries, one brewery, one tan- 
nery, turning lathe, and fulling and carding mill, with ma- 
chinery propelled by water, and several asheries. A small 
steamboat or scow has been built purposely for the stream, 
Mill Creek, on which this village stands, and runs be- 
tween the villages of Mill Creek and S)'denham. In this 
township are lead mines, and plumbago, galena, and de- 
posits of marie and peat are found as described under the 
head of geological features. 

There are, or were, at last census taken up in Lough- 
borough, 21,770 acres, of which 8,801 were cultivated : 
population 2,003 : assessed value of propert}^, 1846, £19,- 
252, in 1856, £75,000. The land cleared and the i)opula- 
tion would now be placed at much higher figures, the pre- 
sent inhabitants numbering some 3,000: cleared land some 
12,000 or 13,000 acres. There are one grist mill, six saw 
mills, four churches and ten schools in the township. 

Loughborough returned at last census, as the products 
of the township: — Wheat, 6,8-45 bush.; Eye, 10,987 bus. ; 
Peas, 8,763; Ocits, 21,830; Buckwheat, 1,218; Indian 

I 



66 PRIZE ESSAY. 

Corn, 4,515 ; Potatoes, 19,154 ; Turnips, 785; Grass Seed, 
19 ; Carrots, 1,552 ; Haj, 1,449 tons ; Wool, 4,903 lbs. ; 
Maple Sugar, 8,348 lbs. ; Fulled Cloth, 1,250 yds.; Flannel 
2,907 ; Bulls, Oxen and Steers 433 ; Milch Cows, 770 ; 
Calves or Heifers, 571 ; Horses, 373 ; Slieep, 1,898 ; Pigs 
1,063 ; Butter, 37,244 lbs. ; Cheese, 1,550 ; Beef, 184 bis ; 
Pork, 672 bbls., since which all the products have been 
greatly increased, and 50 per cent, might be added to these 
figures given, to shew the present yield. 

In the front part of this township, cleared lands are 
worth about £5 per acre : in the rear part from £3 to £4 : 
wild lands are worth from 10s. to 30s. per acre, according 
to situation. 

TOWNSHIP OF STOERINGTON. 

Storrington, in the County of Frontenac, is a township 
divided off from, and containing what formerly were por- 
tions of Pittsburg, Kingston and Loughborough. It con- 
tains about 76,400 acres, having taken from Kingston 31 
lots, from Loughborough 62, and from Pittsburgh 289 lots. 
There were under cultivation in 1852, 9,908 acres in this 
township, and many acres have been added to that number 
since then. The present assessed value of property is 
£75,000 ; population about 3,000. There are in Storring- 
ton one grist mill, with two run of stones, and seven saw 
mills, three churches, built of stone, and one in course of 
erection, and eight schools. The roads through this town- 
ship are good, and the greater part of the land of excellent 
quality. At the back of the township it is broken by nu- 
merou.s lakes, Loughborough Lake, Collins' Lake and Buck 
Lake, are partially in this township, and several smaller 
lakes, known as Mud Lake, Pound Lake, Cedar Lake, Dog 
Lake, Kock, and Horse Shoe Lake, are wholly within its 
limits. Some parts of the township have been long settled, 
and there are very excellent farms, in good cultivation, on 
which 45 bushels of wheat per acre have been raised. The 
land generally is good. On the south side of Loughbo- 
rough Lake it is chiefly a rich loam on clay and limestone 
bottom; on the north of Loughborough, there is still 
much land uncleared. The opening of the Perth Eoad, 
and the bridge across the lake, will be the means of settling 
it very rapidly. Like other broken tracts, it is interspers- 
ed with granite formation, the intervals between which are 



PRIZE ESSAY. Q% 

rich and well timbered. There is a village called Batter- 
sea in that part of the township, formerly Pittsburgh, at 
the outlet of Loughborough Lake, with a grist mill, saw 
mill, tannery, fulling and carding machine, post ofiice, &c. 
Another village called Inverary, has lately been laid out 
in that part of the township, formerly Loughborough. It 
is situated on the Perth Road, and promising to become a 
thriving village. 

The value of land in an opening settlement like that 
north of Loughborough Lake, varies much ; it may be aver- 
tjged here at about 15s. to 30s. per acre. The cleared lands 
throughout the township at from £5 to £7 10s. an acre. The 
first settlement of this township took place some 60 years 
ago : the old settled portion being located by the U. E. 
Loyalists and disbanded troops, soon after the close of the 
Revolutionary War : since that time many emigrants from 
Great Britain andU. States have bought land in Storrington. 
The returns for 1851 and 1852, shew, for this township : — 
Wheat, 14,718 bush. : Barley, 1,367 : Rye, 5,815 : Peas, 
8,875: Oats, 20,316: Buckwheat, 1,621: Indian Corn, 4,- 
972 : Potatoes, 12,963 : Turnips, 1,546 : Grass Seed, 33 : 
Carrots, 36: Beans, 32: Hay, 2,277 tons: Wool, 6,104 
lbs. : Maple Sugar, 7,639 lbs. : Cider, 2,050 gals. : Fulled 
Cloth, 1,624 yds. : Flannel, 3,277 : Bulls, Oxen and Steers, 
428: Milch Cows, 951: Calves or Heifers, 861: Horses, 
528: Sheep, 2,171: Pigs, 1,265: Butter, 43,070 lbs.: 
Cheese, 2,194 : Beef, 124 bbls. : Pork, 624 bbls. The pro- 
ducts ot this township have much increased during the 
last five years; from 50 to 75 per cent, added to the above 
figures would not exceed the present yield. 

TOWNSHIP OF CAMDEN". 

The Township of Camden, in the County of Adding- 
ton, lies inland at the back or north of Ernesttown ; it con- 
tains about 86,000 acres of land, 75,233 of which are taken 
up. In 1851, 30,726 acres of this was reckoned to be un- 
der cultivation, and the population at that time was com- 
puted at 6,973 : in 1846, the cultivated land was reckoned 
at 19,248, making in the five years, between 1846 and 
1851, 11,478 acres brought under cultivation. Assuming 
that the same progress has been made during the last five 
years — and there is no doubt that with the increased pop- 



08 PRIZE ESSAY. 

ulation, it has been even greater — would give 52,204 acres 
now under cultivation ; the population in 184() was reck- 
oned at 4,788, it is now nearly 11,000; rateable property 
in 1846, £5(),i95, in ]856, ii275,000. In Camden there 
are nine grist mills, twenty-two saw mills, ten places of 
worship, and 31 schools. 

y>\ ud Lake and A^'ardy Lake are situated in the eastern 
part of this township; Salmon Eiver, on which are'num- 
erous mills, runs tlirough the north-west corner, and the 
Napanee liiver along the front of the township, through 
the first concession. A^ardy Lake is about six miles long 
and three miles Avide: the land in the neighborhood of this 
pretty sheet of water, is rich and good, and the scenery 
pleasing and picturesque — the land rising gently from the 
shores of the lake. The water is beautifully clear, and fish 
are abundant. Mud Lake, as its name denotes, is less clear 
than A^ardy Lake ; it is about the same size. Napanee 
liiver is fed from numerous small lakes in the township of 
Portland, Loughboroiigh, Hinchinbrook and Bedford. — 
Situated on this stream and in this township, are the vil- 
lage of C(debrook, witli a population of about 300, with a 
grist |md saw mill, three stores, two inns. Simcoe Falls, 
withi/i i^ mdes from Colebrook, down the same stream ; 
popU|latiun about 250 ; here are one grist mill and two saw 
mills, one cloth factor}^ and tanner}^ The village is named 
from tlie falls at the spot, which are some 30 or 40 feet in 
height, and from the fact that they and the surrounding 
lands, to the extent of about 1,000 acres, were formerly 
owned by Governor Siracoe. There is a very valuable 
and available water power, an iron foundry, and several 
shops or stores, denote the progress of this village. Below 
and about four miles furtlier down the stream, is the vil- 
lage of Clarke's Mills ; population about 600 ; one flour 
mill, one saw mill, one cloth factory, a brewer}^, six mer- 
chant's shops and two inns, are here, also, a post office and 
tannery, and the Episcopal church. In the immediate 
neighborhood is another large saw mill, and a saw mill and 
grist mill : a very short distance below, also, a distillery 
and brewery. Newburg is another thriving village on the 
Napanee in this township : it contains from 800 to 1,000 
iidiabitants — two grist mills and three saw mills are at 
work at Newburgh, also, an axe factory and machine shop, 
carding mill, iron foundry, and several cabinet maker's 



PRIZE ESSAY. 69 

shops, with macliinery propelled by water power. The 
water privileges here, and along the Napanee generally, are 
very great and valuable, and the amount of machinery 
driven by the stream, although even now very extensive, 
may be looked on as only an instalment of what it likely 
will be in the course of a few years. At Newburgh are 
five places of worship, and a large academy, which is 
kept in a spacious and suitable building. A newspaper is 
published at this village, and altogether it is prospering 
and increasing rapidly. Centreville is another village in 
this township, situated on the Ernesttown, Camden and 
Sheffield Road, about ten miles from the Napanee Road. 
It is yet in its infancy, and contains some 300 inhabitants, 
and promises to be a thriving spot Cleared lands, for farm- 
ing purposes in Camden, are worth about from £4 to £6 
per acre; wild lands from 20s. to 60s. per acre. 

Return of products of Camden for the year 1852, to 
which may be added about 30 per cent., to give an idea of 
its present products: — Wheat, 29,178 bus.; Barley, 3,- 
836 bus. ; Rye, 19,832 bus. ; Peas, 38,277 bus. ; Oats, 73,- 
525 bus. ; Buck Wheat, 9,003 bus. ; Indian Corn, 19,267 
bus.; Potatoes, 35,305 bus.; Turnips, 3,556 bus. ; Grass 
Seed, 397 bus. ; Carrots, 2,998 bus. ; Mangle Wurtzel, 157 
bus.; Beans, 189 bus.; Hops, 3-42 lbs.; Hay, 5,044 tons; 
Flax, 64 lbs. ; Tobacco, 47 lbs.; Wool, 22,640 lbs. ; Maple 
Sugar, 22,953 lbs.; Cider, 436 gals. ; Full Cloth, 5,441 yds.; 
Linen, 41 yds. ; Flannel, 13,624 ; Bulls, Oxen and Steers, 
2012 ; Milch Cows, 2,613; Calves or Heifers, 2,393 ; Horses 
1,712; Sheep, 8,868; Pigs, 4,611; Butter, 161,663 lbs.; 
Cheese, 5,837 lbs. ; Beef, 743 bis. ; Pork, 4,091 bis. 

TOWNSHIP OF SHEFFIELD. 

The Township of Sheffield, in the County of Adding- 
ton, lies at the back or north of Camden, and contains 
some 83,000 acres. It is of more recent settlement than 
those already mentioned. Many thousand acres of good 
land are still open for settlement in this township — about 
22,266 only being taken up, by the last returns of 1851 
and 1852, and 7,900 cultivated. The settlement has pro- 
gressed rapidly, however, since the date of the last census, 
and many more lots have been located, and many more 
«cres cleared. Numerous lakes, the largest of which are 



70 PRIZE ESSAY. 

Beaver Lake, White Lake, and Long Lake, connected by 
streams, water this township. On the margin of these 
lakes, a portion of the land is found broken and uneven, 
but much valuable timber for lumbering juirposes is afford- 
ed here, large quantities of which are annually floated down 
the lakes and rivers to the various saw mills in this and 
the neighboring townships. The greatest part, however, 
of the land is rich and well timbered, and of excellent 
quality when cleared. Population in 1851, 1,792, since 
which time it has greatly increased, and cannot be stated 
with degree of accaracy ; rateable property in 1846, £11,- 
215, in 1856, £45,000. There are one grist mill, six 
saw mills, three places of worship, and nine schools. The 
Salmon Kiver crosses this township. Situated on it, at a 
distance of about 36 miles from Kingston, is the flourish- 
ing village of Tamworth, with a population of about 250 
to 300 ; at Tamworth are a grist mill and three saw mills, 
and one tannery — it is increasing rapidly. There is also 
another village in Sheffield, called Clareview. Cleared 
lands in this township may be valued at from £3 to £5 
per acre ; wild lands from 10s. to 25s. The land is gener- 
ally level or rolling, and the timber, except on the pine 
ridges, is good hardwood. The same remarks apply as to 
the other newly settled townships, as to the allowance to be 
made for increased population, &c., since the date of the 
last returns. Keturns for 1851 and 1852 shew, for Shef- 
field, Wheat, 14,414 bush. ; Eye, 1,987 ; Peas, 6,512 ; Oats 
15,410 ; Buckwheat, 1,420 ; Indian Corn, 1,925 ; Potatoes 
9,656 ; Turnips, 240 ; Grass Seed, 21 ; Carrots, 25 ; Beans 
27; Hops, 42 lbs.; Hav, 1,021 tons; Wool, 4,724 lbs. ; 
Maple Sugar, 4,869 lbs.;' Full Cloth, 1,330 yds. ; Flannel, 
3,025 ; Bulls, Oxen and Steers, 607 ; Milch Cows, 644 ; 
Calves or Heifers, 594; Horses, 302 ; Sheep, 1,895; Pigs, 
1,300 ; Butter, 31,215 lbs. ; Cheese, 965 lbs. ; Beef, 102 
bbls. ; Pork 649 bbls. ; to which 50 per cent., at least, may 
be added, to give an idea of what are now the products of 
the township. 

TOWNSHIP OF BEDFORD. 

The Township of Bedford, in Frontenac, contains about 
70,000 acres, of which in the year 1851, 22,445 were tak- 
en up, and since that year man}^ other lots have been set- 
tled on. The land then under cultivation was 7,341, there 



PRIZE ESSAY. 71 

is now probably double thut quantity cultivated. The 
assessed property in 1856 was £15,000, ten years ago there 
were in this Township but 8,990 acres taken up, 1,380, 
cleared, and a population of 552. There are in Bedford 1 
Church, one grist mill, four saw mills, two schools, — jDres- 
ent population about 2,000. 

In the south east part of Bedford, the land is very good, 
the recent settlement of the township must be borne in 
mind when reading the return of agricultural products, 
which is only up to the date of last census 1851, the differ- 
ence between which and the present return, is of course 
much greater in the new than in old settled townships. 
In 1851 and '52 the wheat raised in Bedford was 11,588 
bushels, Barley 146, Eye 1,134, Peas 2,167, Oats 11,146, 
Buckwheat, 692, Indian Corn, 5,108, Potatoes, 19,600, 
Turnips, 3,706, Grass seed, 35, Mangle Wurtzel, 60, Beans 
82, bus. : Hay, 1,735, tons. Wood, 5001, Maple Sugar, 
7,338 lbs., Fulled Cloth, 1,570, Flannel, 4,447, yds.: 
Bulls, Oxen, and steers, 597, Milch Cows, 633, Calves, or 
Heifers, 565, Horses, 266, Sheep, 1,702, Pigs, 1,010, 
Butter, 24,000 lbs. ; Cheese, 463, lbs. ; Beef, 50 barrels, 
Pork, 346 barrels. Many of these items of produce might 
now be stated at double the amount given above. 

Wild land in Bedford are worth from 10s to 25s per 
acre, cleared land about £2 10s. 

TOWNSHIP OF PORTLAND. 

The Township of Portland, in the County of Frontenac, 
contains about 54,000 acres, of which 31,285 are taken up, 
and 11,146 were in 1851 under cultivation. In 1846 the 
land taken up was 23,030 acres, of which, there was culti- 
vated, 6,359. The population was then about 1,500, be- 
tween 1846 and '51 the population increased to 2,883, 
or upwards of 50 per cent, which would at the same ratio 
make the present population 3,582. The cleared land was 
nearly doubled in the same period, and may now be reckon- 
ed at upwards of 20,000 acres. Spikes' Corners is a pros- 
perous village, a few miles from the line of the new Port- 
land Eoad, which was originally intended to have reached 
the village. Its course for some reason was changed, and 
it now runs about two miles distant from this village, a 
branch is about being made to connect the macadamized 



72 PEIZB ESSAY. 

road with Spikes' Corners. The land in this township is 
somewhat broken, but there are some portions of it 
very good. The returns made when the last census 
was taken will give but a vague idea of its present state ; 
fifty per cent upon the figures given, would not be too 
much to cover the increased products. The return for 
1851 and 1852, shews. Wheat, 13,527 bus. : Barley, 2,- 
653; Eye, 8,772; Peas, 12,506; Oats, 24,779; Buck- 
wheat, 3,436 ; Indian Corn, 4,494 ; Potatoes, 20,669 ; 
Turnips, 2,312; Carrots, 719: Grass Seed, 134: Mangle 
Wurtzel, 97 : Beans, 55 : Hops, 65 lbs. : Hay, 2067 
tons ; Flax or Hemp, 180 lbs.: Tobacco, 11 lbs. : Wool, 
7,509 lbs. : Maple Sugar, 7,890 ; Fulled Cloth, 1,804 yds. 
Linen, 119 ; Flannel, 3,748 yds. : Bulls, Oxen, and Steers, 
690 ; Milch Cows, 927 ; Calves, or Heifers, 859 ; Horses, 
604 ; Sheep, 2,757 ; Pigs, 1,466 ; Butter, 75,768 lbs. : 
■ Cheese, 3,965 ; Beef, 148 bbls. : Pork, 1005 bbls. : some 
of these products would even be found to be doubled, if a 
correct return could be made. Cleared land here is worth 
from £3 10s. to £5, wild land about 20s. 

WOLFE ISLAND. 

Wolfe Island is the name of the township, but the is- 
land itself is often called Long Island. It is about 25 
miles in length, and is now well settled ; much of the land 
is held under lease. It contains 28,129 acres, of which 
10,813 acres are under cultivation ; the rateable property 
as at present assessed, is £90,000 : population about 3,000. 
There are on the island two churches, one grist and one 
saw mill, and nine schools. The soil is chiefly good. — 
Forming portion of the township of Wolfe Island, is the 
pretty and fertile spot Garden Island, containing 63 acres ; 
also. Horse Shoe Island and Mud Island, — the latter con- 
taining about 80 acres only : Horse Shoe Island is also a 
small isle. 

The vicinity of Garden Island to the city, its fertility, 
and the trade there at the ship yard and marine railway, 
render it an important spot. The other two islands are 
not of equal importance. Cleared lands on Wolfe Island 
are worth from £4 to £7 per acre ; wild lands from 30s. 
to 40s. 

TOWNSHIP OF HINCHINBROOKE. 

Hinchinbrooke is still a new Township and some of 



PRIZE ESSAY. 73 

tlie land is very broken ; about 7000 acres are settled on 
and 1000 cleared and cultivated. It is as yet for Munici- 
pal purposes united to Portland. There are in this Town* 
ship three saw mills and seven schools. The opening of 
the Addington Eoad will, it is anticipated, much improve 
ffinchinbrooke. 

BACK TOWNSUIPS. 

The remaining Townships of Oso, Olden, Palmerston, 
Kennebec, Barrie, Clarendon, and Kalador, are all newly 
surveyed and opened, some of them, indeed, are only par- 
tially surveyed. Settlers, however, are fast locating them- 
selves in the neighbourhood of the newly opened roads : 
their soil and character is such as is described under the 
head of the Addington and Frontenac Roads, varying from 
rich heavily timbered land, to broken stoney ridges, with 
intervals of fertile plain between, and interspersed with 
lakes and streams. 

In most of these Townships, Agricultural Societies 
liave been formed for some years past. The original County 
Agricultural Society embraced the three United Counties ; 
now Lennox and Addington have separate Societies, the 
Township Societies have mostly been established within 
the last ten years, and since the grant for their support by 
the Government. Too little zeal and interest in their object 
is, however, still prevalent througbout the Counties, and in 
some Townships they have been suffered to die out, and in 
others are in a languid state and only contributed to, just 
to a sufficient extent to secure the Government allowance. 
Where they are properly ke23t up, it is owing to the enter- 
prize of a few individuals. This accounts, in a great mea- 
sure, for the want of a due appreciation of the character and 
capabilities of these Counties by those at a distance. It is 
to be hoped and trusted that the present year's Exhibition 
at Kingston will create a renewed spirit of enterj^rize in such 
ma,tters, and that the farmers of this neighbourhood will 
awake to their own interests, and support the character of 
their land by simply shewing Avhat it is capable of, and by 
giving it fair play. 

THE ADDINGTON ROAD. 

To facilitate the settlement of lands in the rear of these 
Counties, the Government is now opening two roads run- 

J 



74 PRIZE ESSAY. 

ning almost Northerly or some few degrees West of North 
to the River Madawaska. One of these, the Addington 
Road, is already cut out, and the centre grubbed to a con- 
siderable distance, and men are now employed in com- 
pleting it. This road commences in the Township of 
Anglesea, in the Northern part of the County of Adding- 
ton, near the village of Flint's Mills, in Kaladar, and runs 
almost due North to the River Madawaska, a distance of 
35 miles — thence it is to be continued for the distance of 
25 miles till it intersects the Ottawa and Opeongo Roail, a 
newly laid out Road, running from the Ottawa Westerly, 
and connecting with roads running to L.ake Huron. The 
outlines of five Townships of very superior land are alrea- 
dy surveyed and ready for settlement on the route, lying 
North of Lake Massonaka and between it and the River 
Madawaska. These Townships are Abinger, Denbigh, 
Ashley, Effiingham, Anglesea, and Barrie. Settlers are 
already rapidly flocking into these Townships ; it is said 
that Mr. Perry, the Agent for the Addington Road, has al- 
lotted on an average 300 acres a day, since he commenced 
his duties. These lands are granted free to actual settlers 
on the performance of certain conditions or settlement 
duties, which the advertisement issued by the Bureau of 
Agriculture states to be, — The grant to each individual not 
to exceed one hundred acres. The settlers must be 18 
years of age, must take possession of the land allotted him 
within one month, and put it in a state of cultivation at 
least 12 acres in the course of 4 years — build a house 20 
feet by 18, and reside on the Lot until the conditions of 
settlement are fulfilled. 

THE FBONTEXAC ROAD. 

The other road within these Counties, " The Fron- 
tenac Road," is not yet in as forward a condition as the 
Addington Road. It has been surveyed and marked out 
and axemen are now employed in opening and grubbing 
it. It commences in the rear of Hinchinbrooke and runs a 
liitle Westerly of North to the River Madawaska, opening 
up the Townships of Olden, Oso, Clarendon and Palmer- 
ston. These Townships, although somewhat broken by 
lakes and streams, aflbrd some very excellent land, well 
puited for settlement and farm purposes. As the Road ap- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 75 

proaches the Madawaska, the land improves in quality or 
rather in the unbroken extent of tracts of good land. In 
describing the features of this tract of country the Minister 
of Agriculture says : " The climate throughout these dis- 
" tricts is essentially good. The snow does not fall so deep 
" as to obstruct communication, and it affords material for 
"good roads during the winter, enabling the farmer to haul 
*' in his iirewood for the ensuing year from the woods, to 
"take the produce to market, and to lay in his supplies for 
"the future — and this covering to the earth not only facili- 
" tates communication with the more settled parts of the 
" District, but is highly beneficial and fertilizing to the 
" soil." 

In all the localities above named, wherever settlers 
have produce, there is a good market for it near to them, 
farm produce of all kinds being in great demand by the 
lumber or timber merchants, who are carrying on an ex- 
tensive business throughout these parts of the country. 

The direct thoroughfare to this settlement is by 
Kingston and the Macadamized Roads leading out of it. 
The Portland Macadamized Road leading to the Frontenac 
Road, and the Napanee Macadamized Road, and the Cam- 
den and Sheffield Road carrying the traveller to within 
reach of the Addington Road. 

GRAND TRUNK RAILROAD. 

The Grand Trunk Railroad Stations and Works with- 
in these Counties, are the Station House and buildings at 
what is supposed to be the Kingston Station, about half 
•way between Kingston and Kingston Mills, and some two 
miles from the city, and the Stations at Collins' Bay, Links- 
ville and Napanee, the tubular bridge at Kingston Mills, and 
the iron girder arch bridge at Napanee. The line of road 
enters the township of Pittsburgh and crossing the Napa- 
nee road near Waterloo, runs through Kingston, Ernest- 
town and Richmond. The works at the Kingston station 
are of stone, well built, and consist of a spacious station 
and passenger house, wood shed and freight house, roofed 
with slate ; those at the other stations are of an equally ex- 
pensive and substantial character. The bridge at Kingston 
Mills is a very handsome iron tubular bridge, spaning the 
chasm formed by the river, just above the loo-ks. It is 



76 PRIZE ESSAY; 

mucli admired bj scientific men as a good specimen of such 
structures. The bridge across tlie Napanee is of iron, sup- 
ported b}^ stone piers, and is also a very handsome and ex- 
cellent work. The track in this neighborhood appears to 
be well and solidly laid, and the road promises to be a good, 
and, it is to be hoped, a lasting one. It is beyond the 
scope of this Essay to discuss the railroad policy of the 
country, but it is necessary to mention, that very great dis- 
satisfaction has been expressed regarding the locality of the 
Kingston station and depot. It is now understood, how- 
ever, that the company will build a branch across the flat 
that intervenes between the heart of the city and the depot. 
When it is considered that here is the chief spot where the 
extensive lines of roads of the United States unite with our 
Grand Trunk road, tlirough the Rome and Cape Vincent 
Railroad, it is somewhat unaccountable that any considera- 
tions should be allowed to interfere to prevent the making 
this depot in a central, coiivenient and readily accessible 
locality. The interest and character of the Company are 
both at stake in this question, and it is not probable that 
they will lose sight of either, but will act wisely whilst it 
is not too late to rectify the error into which they have fal- 
len. 



FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF THE COUNTIES. 

Some idea of the Financial aftairs of the Counties is to 
be obtained from the following statement, taken from the 
published minutes of the Municipal Council. The sources 
of revenue are yearly increasing with every acre of land 
brought into cultivation, and every new lot settled on. — 
The necessary funds for the erection of the new Court 
House, were raised by loan under the Municipal Loan Fund 
Act. The amount, £20,000, is provided to be paid off in 
full by a sinking fund, in 25 years. The Council, apart 
from the Court House, own real estate and stock to the 
aTBount of about £25,000. 



PRIZE ESSAT. 77 

Account of the Revenue and Expenditure of the United 
Counties of Frontenac^ Lennox and Addington^ for the 
year 1855. 

SOURCES OF REVENUE. 

Township of Adolpliustown £ 133 15 

" Amherst Island 129 1 3 

" Bedford 110 8 9 

" Camden 590 12 6 

" Ernesttown 628 15 10 

" Fredericksburgh 590 8 9 

" Kingston 536 5 

" Loughborough 167 3 9 

" Pittsburgh & Howe Island. . . 237 10 

" Portland & Hinchinbrooke.. 386 13 3 

" Napanee 125 18 9 

" Eichmond 596 17 3 

" Sheffield 261 6 3 

" Storrington 167 10 

" Wolfe Island 215 12 6 

City of Kingston 332 10 

Lunatic Asylum 283 7 10 

Administration of Justice 979 3 2 

Jury Fund 242 15 6 

Wild Land Taxes 110 17 3^ 

Miscellaneous Receipts 18 

Roads.. 2242 19 8 

Legislative School Grants 1263 6 7 

Pedlar's License 51 

Tavern Inspector's Fund 47 5 8 

Bills Receivable 5078 6 

£15,527 13 9i 

HEADS OF EXPENDITURE. 

Administration of Justice £1228 18 In- 
jury Expenses 504 8 

Wolfe Scalps 19 10 

Wild Land Taxes 22 11 4^ 

Miscellaneous Payments 21 17 if 

Roads 1137 10 3^ 

Schools 2851 5 6 



Carried forward^ £5786 6 



78 PRIZE ESSAY. 

Brought forward, £ 5786 

Bills Payable 5701 

Bonds and Debentures 1346 

County Council 226 

County Officers 501 

Printing and Stationary. 76 

New Court House and Jail 1523 

Sinking Fund on Assessments of 1855 183 

Balance 181 






5 


10 


7 


19 





14 





5 





8 


5 


18 


7 


4 


7 


13 


2i 



£15,527 13 9i 



Liabilities of the United Counties of Frontenac, Lennox 
and Adding ton. 

District Bonds, outstanding £1986 5 

Debentures for County purposes 500 

" for Stock'^in Wolfe Island Canal, 1000 

" Loan to Riclimond Road Co 4000 

" Loan to Kingston & Bath Road 

Company 700 

Bank accommodation in Bills, paj^able 1856, 1000 
Purchase money of Kingston and Napanee 

Road due Provincial Government 12300 



£21,486 5 

The whole number of acres in the Counties is 1,335,- 
640 ; population about 45,000 to 50,000 ; assessed value, 
£1,842,000. 

GEOLOGICAL FEATURES. 

The Geological structure of these Counties is, strictly 
speaking, of secondary formation, being a portion of the 
lower Silurian group, consisting chieily of Trenton limestone, 
with, in some parts, Potsdam sandstone, and calciferous 
sandrock. It is part of a formation extending over a large 
portion of the region between the OttawaandSt. Lawrence, 
and crossing into the neighboring State between Kingston 
and Brockville, known to Provincial Geologists as the 
"Laurentian Group." Mr. Billings, in his useful little, 
work, the "Canadian Naturalist and Geologist," classes 
these rocks as being for all practical considerations, prima- 
ry. He says, — '* Although these rocks, the Laurentines, 



PRIZE ESSAY. 79 

•' are certainly of secondary origin, tliat is, were formed at 
" the bottom of some vastly ancient sea, after the creation 
" of the world, yet on account of their wide diffusion, for 
",^they, without doubt, underlie all the fossiliferous rocks, 
" they may be assumed for our present purpose (the clas- 
"sificationol rocks,) to have been the original surface of 
" the earth. They constitute the floor of the ocean, upon 
" which the Cambrian and Silurian rocks were slowly de- 
" posited, and in our enumeration of these latter, we shall 
" consider the Laurentians as the foundation supporting all 
" the others," 

Throughout the above mentioned formation, and with- 
in and in the neighborhood of these Counties, there are to 
be found valuable mineral ores and economic materials, 
which will hereafter form sources of great wealth and ben- 
efit to the locality. 

The 'J'renton Limestone, of which is built most of our 
public buildings and best residences, is a pure blueish-grey 
limestone, very regularly stratified. Some Geologists di- 
vide this description of formation into four sections, — the 
Chazy, Bird's Eye, Black Eiver, and Trenton Limestones, 
but tliey are generally known under the common designa- 
tion of Trenton Limestone. The stone buildings of Kings- 
ton are derived from the beds of that which would be class- 
ed as "chazy" limestone; it is very handsome when dress- 
ed, but somewhat brittle and subject to break off short 
when used for lintels, or outside ornamental work. Tiie 
economic materials found in these Counties, consist of mng- 
netic and speculor ores of iron, galena, plumbago, grind- 
stones and flagging, scythe stones and whetstones, litho- 
graphic stones, hmestone, marble, water lime, brick clay, 
sheli-marle and peat, pure siiicca, for glass making, talcous 
and other ochres, and soap-stone, (steatite.) 

IROX ORES. 

Magnetic and specular iron ores, are found more 
in the Townships adjoining these Counties than within 
them, but Bedford and Olden, and perhaps other Town- 
ships will also be found to yield them. There is 
a bed of magnetic ore in Bedford, on the West side of 
Wolfe Lake. The abundance of these mineral ores in the 
surrounding Townships of Madoc, Marmora, Belmont and 
Seymour, is, however, of great importance to Kingston and 



80 PRIZE ESSAY. 

the neigliborhood. The ores from the mines in these Town- 
ships will either be brought to that city to be smelted, or 
if smelted on the spot will have to be carried to that port 
for use, for sale, or for exportation, and apart from these 
considerations, the neighborhood of these mines will be of 
value to our City and Counties, in affording the material 
for the renewal of our railroads and for countless other pur- 
poses, if not at a cheaper rate than it can be purchased and 
brought from a distance, (and thus aid in keeping a portion 
of our capital within the Province, instead of sending it 
abroad,) at least of a very superior quality to that imported. 
The only works of any great extent now in operation 
are those in Marmora, 5000 or 6000 tons of pig and bar 
metal are annually worked at these mines and ten times 
that amount might be worked if facilities were afforded and 
encouragement given to the enterprise. A company has 
already been formed for smelting ore in Kingston, and a 
contract has been entered into to deliver some 15,000 tons 
annually for five years for shipment. This ore is to be ob- 
tained from the works on the Ottawa. When a Railroad 
brings the Marmora and other iron works into immediate 
and direct connection with our city, there can be no ques- 
tion that it will create a great source of employment and of 
revenue. That such will before long be the case, we have 
reason to hope and expect. An Act of the last Session of 
our Parliament has authorized the construction of a Rail- 
road to Newburgh. It is not too much to look forward to 
the extension of that road to the Marmora Iron Works. 
Under any circumstances Kingston will be the natural port 
for the shipment of ore or of iron. A road will either be 
made as above suggested from Newburgh to the Works, or 
a road to Belleville, whence the iron or ore will be brought 
to Kingston by bay craft or Railroad, for shipment at that 
port. American capitalists have already found it worth 
while to ship the ore to Ohio, where coal is plentiful. It 
will doubtless soon be found profitable for native enter- 
prize to import the coal and smelt the ore in Kingston, an 
experiment now about to be tried. The immense demand 
that must for ever exist for iron here and in the United 
States, makes the subject of the producting, working and 
traffic in it, one of grave consideration and veins of ore not 
now deemed worthy of attention will at no distant date be 
advantageously worked. Iron has already been sent from 



PRIZE ESSAY. 81 

this neiglabourliood to England, where it competes in qual- 
ity -with that from Sweden. 

GALENA. 

Lead ore is found in the Township of Bedford. This 
may ultimately also prove of value, and well worth working^ 
although at present of less presumed importance than the 
iron ores. Three veins of this mineral have been struck in 
Bedford, one in Lot 21, in 8th Concession; and two be- 
tween Lots 18 and 19, same Concession. The Perth Road 
runs within a mile of these veins, the facility thus afforded 
for the transport of ore or metal, of course, renders them 
the more valuable. Plumbago also is found in this local- 
ity. A vein exists near the outlet of Gold Lake on Lot 6, 
9th Concession, Loughborough. Another on the South 
side of a small island at the East end of Buck Lake. The 
same mineral is found too, on the North side of Buck Lake 
and in Bedford, on Lot 18, 9th Concession, and on West 
side of Mud Lake in Loughborough. 

GRINDSTONES. 

The Potsdam sand- stone formation yields grindstones 
though of a somewhat coarse description. It is found 
chiefly in Loughborough and Storrington, at the North 
ends of Knowlton Lake, and near Vanluven's Mills in Stor- 
rington. 

FLAGGING 

Of the best quality can be obtained from the same forma- 
tion. Near Vanluven's Mills, (Lot 12, 9th Concession 
Storrington,) the beds are very regular and divide into 
thin layers very readily, though as yet of no particular 
value, the time is not far distant when such material will 
be in great demand. The perishable nature of the plank- 
walks of our Canadian cities is already compelling city 
municipalities to seek for a more lasting substitute. The 
flagging found in this spot and elsewhere, is well calculated 
to supply this want, and will doubtlessly soon pave our 
streets. The same material also exists in the neighbour- 
hood of Eel Lake. The Trenton limestone has been some- 
times used for flagging, but is not so suitable, nor of so 
good a quality as the sand-stone. 

K 



8U FKIZK 1:;SSAY. 

SCVTUE STONES AND WHET STONES, 

Material well adapted for being worked into these ar- 
ticles, is found in Kennebec. It has not as yet been manu- 
factured to any extent, but it will some day be found of 
advantage to substitute these native productions for those 
usually sold which are imported. The stone, or rather 
slate, in Kennebec, is of equally good, if not of better 
quality than that imported. 

LITHOGRAPHIC STONE. 

It is probable that this valuable description of material 
exist in these Counties as it is often found in the vicinity 
of other formations that appear there, such, for instance, as 
the Chazy limestone, but no specimens have actually been 
found nearer to this localitj^ than Marmora, whence a very 
excellent quality was sent to the London Industrial Exhi- 
bition, but it is contended by some, that it exists in the 
immediate neighbourhood of or on the site of the City of 
Kingston, which is probably the case. 

BUILDING STONE. 

Of building stone, we have already spoken. 

SHELL-MARLE AND PEAT, 

Loughborough Lake and all the Lakes from it to 
White Lake, in Olden, contain at the bottom of them a 
thick deposit of shell-marle, and the same substance is also 
found in great quantities on Lots 15 and 16 in 2nd Con- 
cession of Sheffield, and on Lots 12 in 3rd and 4th Con- 
cession of same Township. The deposit in 2nd Concession 
is said to extend over an area of upwards of 200 acres, 
with a thickness of at least 10 feet, and that in the 4th 
Concession over 300 or 400 acres. These deposits of marie 
are covered with an accumulation of peat about 4 feet in 
thickness, and of excellent quality for fuel, containing only 
some 3 per cent of ashes. 

MARBLE. 

Marble of a very excellent quality is to be found in 
Loughborough, but back in Palraerston there is an exten- 
sive vein of this stone, equal in quality and similar in color 
to the finest carrara or Parian marble. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 83 

WATER LIME. 

Good hydraulic lime has been found near Knowlton 
Lake, in Loughborough, and in the vicinity of the fort at. 
Kingston, and very probably exists in many placets in the 
Townships. 

BRICK CLAY. 

Brick clay abounds in all parts of the Counties. 

SILEX. 

Silex of a pure description and of excellent quality for 
the manufacture of glass, is found in Storrington and else- 
where. 

STEATITE. 

Soap-stone is found in various places throughout the 
Counties, but chiefly in Loughborough. 

OCHRES. 

A very valuable species of talcous ochre, suitable for 
paints, for polishing silver, and other uses, exists in large 
quantities in Storrington, and is also found in Loughbor- 
ough. 

The limestone formation throughout this part of the 
Country, is interspersed with Gneiss or stratified granite. — 
This is the case more particularly in Pittsburgh, Bedford, 
and in the neighbourhood of the Lakes in the back and 
Eastern Townships. 

It would be easy, if deemed necessarj^, to give a 
condensed sketch of the exact geological character of the 
whole Counties, but limited space prevents this, even were 
it needful. The enquiring reader is referred to Mr. Mur- 
ray's Report on the Provincial Geological Survey for 1853, 
(page 81, et seq :) for a very full description of this part of 
Canada West. 

LAKES. 

In describing the features of the different Townships 
frequent mention has been made of the Lakes. Through 
the whole tract of country lying North of the Township of 
Kingston, and in these and the neighbouring Counties, are 
a multitude of Lakes of various sizes, from that of a mere 



84 PRIZE ESSAr, 

pond up to that of a Lake of 20 miles in extent. The 
water of these Lakes is extremely pure and clear, and they 
are furnished with abiindance of fish ; they are mostly con- 
nected by streams of water, and are navigable, and the 
streams capable of floating canoes or small boats. Through 
these Lakes and streams are annually floated immense 
quantities of lumber and timber, and in the absence of the 
roads now in the course of construction, they have been the 
highway to the city from many a fine farm on their banks. 
Around them, in some places, the land is much broken, 
rocky and waste, but between such broken and rough tracts 
are lands of great richness and fertilit}^, and of the first 
quality. The scenery throughout this tract of country and 
in the neighbourhood of these Lakes and Rivers is ex- 
tremely picturesque, and in many places even grand, varied 
with rock, valley, streamlets and wood. When as the 
country gets older, localities are sought not only with a re- 
gard to their flat unvaried richness of soil, but with some 
consideration of their beauty of location and scenic charms ; 
there is liitle doubt that many a romantic glen here will 
have its accompanying cottage, hamlet or mansion, and 
that many a pretty homestead will be embowered among 
these woods and water falls : even now many a good farm 
is being brought under cultivation in these parts. If any 
surpass the rest in picturesque beauty, we should incline to 
give the palm to Buck Lake and its vicinity. The neigh- 
borhood of these lakes abounds in deer. 

To give the reader some idea of the number and ex- 
tent of these sheets of water, we extract from Mr Murray's 
Geological Report for 1852 and '53, the following table, 
shewing their respective heights above the surface of Lake 
Ontario, the townships in which they are situated, and the 
waters to which they are more or less nearly or remotely 
tributary : — 



NAME. 




TOWNSHIP, 


HEIGHT. 


FALLS INTO 


Loughborough Lake, 


Storringt 


on & Loughborough, 16,612 ft 


. Rideau Canal. 


Sloat's Lake, 


Loughborough, 


18,905 


Lake Ontario. 


Knowlton Lake, 


° u 




21,753 


Mud Lake. 


Hud Lake, 


it 




21,753 


Desert Lake. 


Desert Lake, 


Bedford, 




!21,753 


Birch Lake. 


Birch Lake, 


« 




21,753 


Deril Lake. 


Devil Lake, 


" 






Rideau River. 


Canoe Lake, 


« 




22,997 


Desert Lake. 


Batting's MUl Pond, 


" 




28,700 


Wolfe 1. A Rid. r. 


Green Bay & Bob's lake ' ' 




38,480 


Joy &, Rid. river 


Crow Lake, 


" 




89,888 


Mud Lake. 



FKIZK ESSAY. 85 



FALLS INTO 



Sharbord Lake, Osa and Olden, 50,529 Mad'ka & Ot. riv 

White Lake, Olden, 55,529 Sharbord Lake. 

Cross Lake, Kennebec, 41,284 Long Lake. 

Long Lake, Sheffield, 3o,569 Beaver Lake. 

Beaver Lake, Sheffield, 30,722 Sal. r.& BayofQ 

EIVERS. 

The principal streams draining these Counties are the 
Salmon Kiver, the ISTapanee, Mill Creek, Collins' Creek, 
and the Cataraqui or Rideau River and Canal, to these may 
be added Big Creek, and the Little Cataraqui. There are 
also numerous smaller streams. These streams have all 
nearly a similar course, running South, 25° West, or there- 
abouts. The Salmon River rises back in one of the lakes 
in Kennebec, Crow Lake, and flows through that township 
into Beaver Lake in Sheffield, and thence crossing Rich- 
mond and Tyendeuaga into the Bay of Quinte. The Na- 
panee is fed from the numerous lakes in Bedford and other 
townships ; it is difficult to state its rise. It flows through 
Portland, and becomes an important stream in Camden. — 
In that township it is connected with Vardy's Lake by a 
stream flowing into it. On it are situated Colebrook, Sim- 
ooe Falls, Clark's Mills, Newburgh, (in Camden,) and Na- 
panee, in Richmond ; it falls into the Bay of Quinte. Mill 
Creek flows out of Sloat's Lake, in Loughborough, and af- 
ter crossing Portland, expands into Mud Lake, in Portland 
and Ernesttown, (this must not be confounded with the 
Mud Lake in Camden,) thence crossing Ernesttown, it falls 
into the Bay at Mill Haven. On it are Odessa, or Mill 
Creek, Linksviile and Mill Haven. Big Creek flows 
through Ernesttown and Fredericksburgh into Hay Bay. 
Wilton, in Ernesttown, is on this stream. Collins Creek 
unites Collins' Lake in Storrington and Kingston with the 
waters of the Bay of Quinte. At its mouth is the village of 
Port Royal, or Collinsby, before mentioned. The little Cat- 
araqui is a small stream confined to the township of King- 
ston, which it drains in part, and feeds one or two saw Mills. 

RIDEAU CANAL. 

At Kingston is the outlet of that stupendous work, the 
Rideau Canal, an immense military highway, connecting 
the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers. The locks on this 



86 PRIZE ESSAY. 

canal are amongst the grandest structures of the same na- 
tu]"e in the world. The undertaking was commenced and 
carried out bj the Imperial Government at an immense 
expenditure, chiefly for military purposes, as affording a 
safe channel for the conveyance of stores, arms, &c., when 
the frontiers might be exposed, and partly with a commer- 
cial view of avoiding the rapids of the St. Lawrence, at 
that time considered insurmountable, in the transit from 
the sea-board. This canal cost upwards of £1,000,000 
sterling. Its construction was expected to have great in- 
fluence on the welfare of Kingston, and for some time such 
influence was doubtlessly beneficially felt, as it was neces- 
sary to trans-ship at that port as well the products of the 
west in their carriage to the seaboard, as the merchandize 
for Western Canada in its transportation westward, and to 
forward them by other craft through the canal, or up the 
lake, thus creating a large source of labour, outlay and gain, 
and employment to numerous forwarders, agents and work- 
men in the transhipment. The improved navigation of the 
St. Lawrence, by the construction of the St. LaAvrence Ca- 
nals, and the discovery of other and better channels than 
were then known, to a great extent abolished that source 
of life and activity on the wharves and in the harbor of the 
city. 

The canal was intended for the passage of barges, both 
down and up between Kingston and Bytown. Steamers, 
however, were soon made available in guiding barges down 
the rapids, which came with return cargoes up the canal. 
Now steam- tugs tow, through the course afforded by the 
St. Lawrence Canals, both schooners and barges up as well 
as down the stream, and where schooners are used no tran- 
shipment necessarily takes place at Kingston. Of late, it 
has been found profitable to employ barges in the naviga- 
tion of the St. Lawrence, or it has been found profitable for 
schooners to confine their trips to the open lake, which, 
with the facilities for the transhipment of grain afforded bj 
an extensive steam elevator, has caused a renewed life in 
that branch of business. 

This important work unites, as we have stated, the 
waters of the St. Lawrence with those of the Ottawa. It 
commences at Kingston, and pursues a North-eastern di- 
rection through a chain of lakes, with most of which it be- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 87 

comes identified in its course, until it intersects Kideau 
River, continuing its route along the banks, and sometimes 
in the bed of that river ; it enters the Ottawa at By town, 
(now the City of Ottawa,) in North latitude 45° 23'. — 
Length from Kingston to By town, including the navigable 
courses, 126 miles, with 47 locks, each 83 feet wide, and 
134 long. Ascent from Kingston to the Summit Pond by 
15 locks, 162 feet. Descent from the Summit Pond to the 
Ottawa by 32 locks, 283 feet ; total lockage 455 feet, de- 
pression of the Ottawa below Lake Ontario at Kingston, 
141 feet ; general course, North, North-east, It was com- 
menced in 1826, when the Duke of Wellington was in of- 
fice, and it is understood that that great General had a 
voice in the designing of this mighty structure, which is 
not unworthy of his genius. Sir James Carmichael Smith, 
of the Engineer's Department, is said to have originated 
the idea of its construction. It was carried out under the 
superintendance of Colonel By, and the town at its junc-. 
tion, with the Ottawa, was named after him. That name 
has since been changed, when Bytown was made a city.' — • 
It was the only testimonial to his energy and skill, which 
deserved from the Province some better acknowledgment. 
This great work, together with the extensive lands along 
its line of route, held by the Imperial Government, have 
lately been transferred to the Province, and there is no 
doubt that its resources and revenue will be made the most 
of for the general benefit of the country. Already the lo- 
cal trade along its course is fast increasing, with the im- 
provement and growth of the settlements in the neighbor- 
hood of the Ottawa. The transport of iron ore from the 
same section of country to Kingston also adds largely to it. 
Along the course of the stream arc valuable water privi- 
leges. 

ROADS. 

It has been stated that Kingston was the focus of a 
net work of good roads. Let us now consider the nature 
and extent of these avenues to the city, through what town- 
ships they pass, and their probable efl'ect. We have said 
that the resources of these Covinties were not began to be 
developed until, comparatively, recently. This is shewn 
to be the case when it is stated that up to 1848, the King- 
ston and Napanee Road, 25 miles, completed in 1844, was 



88 PRIZE ESSAY. 

the only macadamized road leading into Kingston. Since 
that time a greater amount of enterprise and public spirit 
has been exhibited, and there are now in the course of con- 
struction macadamized roads in every direction, which, 
when completed, will cover a length of 160 miles; of these 
the greater part is finished, and the remainder will be com- 
pleted within a short period. To give any idea of them, 
they must be considered separately ; in doing so, and when 
treating of the roads to which it relates, quotations will be 
freely made from the Report of the joint committees from 
the Council and the Citizens on the Perth, Gananoque and 
Phillipsville Roads — a correct and reliable public docu- 
ment. 

THE CAMDEN ROAD. 

The Camden Road runs through the township of Cam- 
den, Ernesttown, and Sheffield, leaving the Napanee Road 
about two miles west of Odessa, or Mill Creek. It was 
built in 1850, and is about 18 miles in length. The coun- 
try is well settled on either side of it, and a large amount 
of produce is carried over it to Kingston and the surround- 
ing villages. This road was built by the County and 
Township Municipalities. 

THE BATH ROAD. 

The Bath Road leads from that village to the city, a 
distance, by the road, of about 18 miles, eight of which are 
macadamized ; it runs along the shores of, or parallel with 
the Bay of Quinte, through an old, well-settled and fertile 
country, crossing the townships of Kingston and Ernest- 
town. It was built some six years ago, at a cost of £290 
per mile. There are on it two toll gates, and its revenue 
produces some 10 per cent, on the capital invested. It 
must be remembered too, that during the season of naviga- 
tion, there is constant steam communication with Bath, 
which, of course, tends to reduce the annual produce of 
this road. The drive along this road is rendered more 
than ordinarily pleasant, by the pleasing scenery and coun- 
try along it. This road was built by a joint stock company. 

THE SYDENHAM ROAD. 

The Sydenham Road connects the village of Syden- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 89 

ham, in tlie western part of thetownsliip of Loughborough, 
with Kingston. It is 16 miles in length, nine miles of 
which are macadamized. It was built at an expense of 
£810 per mile. It runs through Kingston and Loughbo- 
rough, over, with few exceptions, a fine tract of country, 
and between good farms, and pays a large per centage over 
the interest on its cost. 

THE STORRINGTON" ROAD. 

The Storrington Road, after running eastward to with- 
in a mile of Kingston Mills, then turns northward to Stor- 
rington, a distance of nine miles from Kingston. The 
lands immediately adjoining the city, on this road, are not 
so good, and the country somewhat broken and uneven, 
but after a mile or two, it traverses a remarkable fine tract, 
and passes some good farms. This road has paid 12 per 
cent, annually on its cost. 

THE PORTLAND ROAD. 

The Portland Road leads from Kinerston, westward to 
Spikes' Corners, in Portland, and was built by a Jomt 
Stock Company. The capital was subscribed chiefly by 
private individuals. The County Council subscribed 
X500. It was commenced in 1854 and will be completed 
the present autumn of 1856. It runs from the Napanee . 
Road, above Waterloo, about four miles from Kingston, 
through the Townships ot Kingston, Portland, and Cam- 
den, to a small village known as Mirvale in Portland, and 
and thence to Simcoe Falls in Camden, a branch of about 
two miles leads to Spikes' Corners. The whole Road is a- 
bout 16 miles in length, and will cost, including gates and 
incidental expenses, about £350 per mile. It is contem- 
plated to connect with the road now opening up through 
the rear townships, to the Madawaska River, and known as 
the Addington Road. The Portland Koad is expected to 
pay some 15 per cent, on its cost. It traverses a good level 
country, and some fine farms are found along its line. A 
large amount of travel and traffic will pass over this Road, 
and it will, without doubt, prove lucrative to the Stock- 
holders, and beneficial to the neighbourhood: 

THE KINGSTON, PITTSBURGH AND GANANOQUE ROAD. 

The Company which projected this road commenced 
L 



90 PIUZE ESSAY, 

Viltli a capital of £18,000; of tliis, the City Council of 
Kingston subscribed £5,000, payable in debentures at 20 
years. The road passes through Pittsburgh, and unites 
the County of Leeds with Kingston. The distance to be 
macadamized by this company is about 24 miles — the road 
being in fact two brandies, and passing by different routes 
through distinct parts of the township ; the whole of it there 
is every reason to expect, will be completed by the end of 
tlic present season ; there are four toll gates on the road — 
contract price per mile is £350. 

In reporting on the policy of the city subscribing for 
stock in this road, the committee remark that " they enter- 
'•tain no doubt but that the road will pay more than sim- 
" pie interest on its cost of construction, and they think it 
" will be of advantage to the city in increasing the facilities 
" of getting to market, attracting settlers, accelerating the 
"settlement of the Township of Pittsburgh, and approve of 
'• the policy of subscribing to its stock." This Company has 
purchased, and now own the "Cataraqui Bridge." 

THM KINGSTON AND PHILLIPSVILLE EOAD. 

The Kingston and Phillipsville Eoad Companj^ was 
formed with a view of opening a connexion between Kings- 
ton and the rear of Leeds, South Crosby, and Bastard, and 
the adjoining section of the Country, which is separated 
from that opened by the Peith Eoad by a series of Lakes, 
forming part of the Rideau Canal. The Capital consists of 
£12,500 — £7,500 of which has been subscribed for by the 
City Council — £4,500 by private individuals. The munici- 
palities of the townships through which the road passes, 
wore expected to have aided the enterprise by taking stock ; 
this expectation was not fulfilled, owing, not so much to 
any doubt of the prudence of the investment, but from a 
too prevailing indifference, or want of public spirit exist- 
ing m such bodies. The whole of the road is under con- 
tiviot, and will be completed to White Fish Falls before 
the end of the present year. The whole extent of road to 
Phillipsville is about 28 miles ; to White Fish Falls about 
20 miles, and the contract price £600 per mile. The town- 
ships through which this road runs are well settled, and 
the lands of a fine quality. The report before referred to, 
after making this statement, continues :■ — "The townships 
"which it reaches, and whose produce and trade it will pro- 



PRIZE ESSAY. 91 

" bably bring to Kingston, are of a superior character, ami 
" will be very valuable to Kingston, The revenue fi'oni 
" the road will, in the opinion of your Committee, during 
" the second, or at all events, the tliird year, enable the 
'' Company to pay a dividend to stockholders, exceeding 
" the simple interest on their subscriptions ; and your Com- 
" mittee conceive that no doubt can exist as to the propric- 
" ty and advantage to the city of subscribing, as was done, 
" to the capital stock of the company." The expense of 
the construction of this road has been greater than that of 
most others recently made, in consequence of the greater 
part of it being altogether a new road, newly cut, graded 
and turnpiked, whilst the others have been good turnpikcd 
roads, macadamized — ti)c cost of macadamizing onl}', be- 
ing the principal I'cc ntoutlay, and the original amount ex- 
pended in making the old line of road, not being taken in- 
to account. 

KINGSTON AND PERTH P.OAD. 

This important enterprise has been entered on, not so 
much with the view of obtaining a large direct return, in 
the shape of interest on the outla}^, as by establishing a 
direct communication between this city and Perth, not on- 
ly to encourage the improvement of the tOAvnships imme- 
diately behind ns, but to open up a mutually beneficial in- 
tercourse between this city and several populous and weal- 
thy townships, for which it is the natural outlet and mar- 
ket, but from ^vhich it is at present entirely shut out. 

" The line chosen for the Perth Road," says the report 
for which we are indebted for so much information, " runs 
" from Kingston to the Narrows, at Loughborough Lake — 
" a distance of 12 miles: thence to Westport, 11-|- miles: 
" and thence to Perth, 18 miles; in all 50|- miles. It pas- 
" ses through the townships of Kingston, Storrington, 
"Loughborough and Bedford, in this County, and North 
"Crosby and Burgess, in the County of Lanark, The 
" townships of Bathurst, Drummond and Lanark, in that 
" county, may also be considered as reached, and aifcctcd 
" by this road. These townships embrace a population ot 
" about 30,000. On this route, the first 12 miles, fi-oni 
"Kingston to Loughborough Lake are completed, two toll 
"houses erected, and a revenue of £200 for the first year 
"created; from Loudiborousrh Lake to Buck Lake, and 



92 PRIZE ESSAY. 

" from thence to Westport, the line lias been chopped 
*' through, and a winter road established. The last nine 
*' miles to Perth, have been chopped, grubbed and graded, 
*' and the last six of them macadamized. The direct ex- 
" penditure, exclusive of the cost of toll houses between 
*'K.ingston and the north side of Loughborough Lake, has 
" been £7,293, of which the bridge cost £615 : from thence 
" to Buck Lake, the expenditure has been about £1,000, 
" and for the last nine miles the expenditure has been £3,- 
*' 722 ; and the land damage on the whole route has been 
"£918. To finish that portion between Loughborough 
"and Buck Lake, would cost about £4,171 ; from West- 
"port to Perth about £6,935, so that the whole expendi- 
'' ture upon the route itself has been £13,732, and the 
" whole sum required to finish the road would be about 
"£16,29L" 

Since the date of the above quoted Eeport, bridges 
have been builc across Buck Lake, Indian Lake Creek, and 
another Lake on the line, aud the communication between 
Kingston and Westport thoroughly established. A large 
party of experienced axemen arc employed on the road be- 
tween Loughborough Lake and Perth, while the three miles 
on the Perth section, then unfinished, have been completed. 
The whole capital stock of this Company consisted of 
£20,000, £17,500, subscribed b}- this city, payable in de- 
bentures at 20 years date ; £2500 subscribed b}^ private 
individuals. The estimated cost of the road from end to 
end, is £32,000, the deficiency of £12,500 the Directors of 
this Company hope to raise by additional subscription of 
stock from the Township and County Municipalities, affect- 
ed by the road, and some further sums from private indi- 
viduals. The Town of Perth has agreed to contribute 
£1000, or if these contemplated forces fail, by a judicious 
expenditure of the £20,000 subscribed, to be able to place 
the road in the attitude of a paying enterprize before the 
public, and to borrow upon it whatever amount they might 
ultimately find themselves deficient in. 

The ]3olicy of the city subscribing so largely for stock 
in the enterprize having been questioned, we take space to 
quote the following evidence given before the Committee, 
whose Report is above referred to :• — 

" The evidence brought before the Committee upon the 
" character and value of the country opened up by this 



PRIZE ESSAY. 93 

road, is of a stronger character than any of the members 
had expected. That the country from Kingston to 
Loughborough Lake would compare favourably with any 
similar extent of land in this or the adjoining Counties, 
some of your Committee well knew, but North of Lough- 
borough Lake, between it and Buck Lake, a distance of 
9 miles, and spreading to a width of 15, an area of nearly 
87,000 acres, and from them through Bedford, the Cros- 
hjs and Burgess, it was not supposed by any of your 
Committee, until the evidence in this enqviiry was heard, 
' that the lands were to any important extent fit for agricul- 
'i^tural purposes. Your Committee, however, are gratified 
' to be able to Report that this section of country has been 
' much undervalued. The construction of the Perth Road 
' has now, for the first time, rendered it accessible, and your 
' Committee think there is every reason to anticipate that 
' it will be rapidly taken up by the poorer, but still valua- 

* ble class of settlers, who will contribute in an important 
' degree to the trade and advancement of this city. Your 
' Committee deem this point of so much moment and so 
' material to the fair appreciation of the policy of construct- 
' ing these roads, that they give the evidence of some of 
' the witnesses examined on it : 

" Mr. James Campbell, of Storrington, a farmer who 
' has lived there since childhood, says, with reference to 
' this section of country : — The general character of the 
' land is rough, but there is hardly a Lot that will not be 
'settled upon. It is much better adapted for grazing than 
' the land South of Loughborough Lake. There would be 
' on an average, at all events, fifty acres of tillable land in 
' every lot of two hundred acres. There is excellent build- 
' ing timber and an abundance of cordwood to be got on 
' these lands ; there is wood now being drawn to Kingston 
'from places which never sent wood here before, and could 
' not but for the Perth road ; thinks every Lot capable of 
' settlement." 

" Mr. John Woolf, of the same Township, also an early 

* settler, and who has lived there for thirty-five years, 
' says : — The other side of Loughborough Lake is rocky, 

* but a good deal of good land mixed with it ; a good deal 
'of good timber ; the land is good on granite formation, 
' much better than on limestone ; immediately along the 

* line of road between Loughborough Lake and Buck Lake, 



94 PRIZE ESSAY. 

" there is good land enough to settle from two to four 
" hundred families; there is a country nine miles along the 
" road by a width of fourteen or fifteen miles, which, but 
" for the Perth road, would remain a wilderness ; believes 
" every Lot will betaken up in three or four years; Kings- 
" ton will be their only market ; there is a good deal of 
" hardwood in this locality." 

" Mr. Schuyler Shibley, President of the Portland 
"Road Company, says: — lie is acquainted with pretty 
" much the whole line of country through which the Perth 
" Poad passes ; the general character of the country is 
" rough, but on the worst lots which could be picked out, 
"a person could get a better living than hundreds who are 
" working here ; there are two-thirds of the lots that per- 
" sons could make a good living on." 

" Dr. William Beamish, of NV^aterloo, says — He knows 
"the country along the line of the Perth Road well; the 
" character of it along the lakes is rough, but passing these 
' ' there is good land ; there is good wood land all through i 
" — thinks there are more than 50 acres in every lot of 200 
" acres fit to be ploughed." 

" Mr. Sylvester Holden, Reeve of the Township of 
" Loughborough, and an old resident, says — He knows the 
"line of roads well; thinks it a good line ; thinks every 
" lot will be settled ; the general character of the country 
" is rough, but well wooded ; the road will effect a settle- 
" ment, it will make a considerable difference in the settle- 
" ment." 

" Mr. George Parker, a resident for five years in Lo- 
" borough, says — The road has doubled the value of his 
" land ; there are settlers going in back of Loughborough 
" Lake ; since the road was cut it is filling up ; there is 
" good land; thinks eighteen out of twenty lots will be set- 
"tled; no doubt there will be plenty settlers there; rear 
" of Loughborough and Crosby will be settled in conse- 
" quence of the opening of the road." 

" John McDonell, an axeman, and the foreman of the 
" men who chopped out the road says — He knows the 
"whole line of road; he corroborates the evidence of Mr. 
" George Harker ; the land is broken, but in places the soil 
" is excellent ; is experienced in timber ; the land is well 
" wooded with hard timber ; is as well timbered land as he 
" ever saw." 



■^. 



■m. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 95 

" Mr. Robert B. Rorison, for sixteen years a resident 
*' and mill owner in the township of North Crosby, says — • 
" That he is well acquainted with the Townships of Bed- 
" ford, North Crosby, South Crosby and Burgess ; all these 
*' townships contain much land fit for settlement, though 
" their general character is rough ; upon almost every lot 
" from 50 to 70 acres of good tillable land will be found, 
" and the remainder good grazing land, and covered with 
" wood — pine, hardwood and hemlock abound ; that in 
" these townships the few settlers that are there, are chiefly 
" settled on shanty roads ; that land sells from 4s. to 7s. 6d. 
" per acre ; that these low prices, are obtained in consequence 
"of the want of roads, and the difficulty of getting at the 
" different parts of the townships ; that some of the people 
" who have gone in there have grown rich, merely from 
" the produce of their land ; the village of VVestpoi'tis the 
"place where most of the people do their milling and trad- 
" ing; it is called 50 miles from Brockville, where all the 
"produce is sent; he is well acquainted with the route of 
"the Kingston and Perth Road, from Buck Lake to 
"Perth, and the country through which it passes; that the 
" road, when completed, will have the effect of opening up 
" and settling the townships of Bedford, North Crosby and 
"Burgess; cross roads will be made to it from all parts of 
"these townships; it will also bring the people of South 
"Crosby, and the Villages of Newboro and of Westport to 
" Kingston ; the business of the whole of that section of 
"country is now principally done at Brockville; it will 
" by the new road, be directed to Kingston ; it is a consid- 
"erable business, and will rapidly increase; the through 
" travel, he believes, will be considerable ; thinks it would 
" support a line of stages ; it would make Kingston the 
" natural outlet for all business and pleasure travel, and 
" the high road to Albany, New York, &c., for all persons 
" from that section of country ; he is well acquainted with 
" the rise and progress of I^Cingston, and of the townships 
"of which he has been speaking, since 1813, and is decid- 
" edly of opinion that the Perth Road will pay 6 per cent, 
"interest on £30,000; and further, that if no interest was 
" received, the advantages and increased business brought 
" to Kingston by the road, would pay Kingston for its con- 
" struction." 

" Upon evidence such as this, your Committee have 



96 PRIZE ESSAY. 

arrived at the opinion, that the policy of opening up this 
country and attaching it to Kingston, by means of the 
Perth Road, was sound and judicious, and deserved the 
assistance it received from the City Council of 1854. — 
Some of the heaviest tax payers in the city, more partic- 
ularly Messrs. Morton and Forsyth, were amongst those 
who originally petitioned the Council to aid in this enter- 
prise, and these gentlemen have again, before your Com- 
mittee, expressed in the strongest terms their sense of 
the importance of the road, and the necessity of comple- 
ting it. As a citizen, paying nearly £400 per annum 
taxes to the city revenue, your Committee think Mr. 
Morton's evidence on this point, deserving of great con- 
sideration — he was an advocate of the road from the first, 
and so continues. He says — 

" He is largely engaged in business; has considered 
the Perth Road question ; went for the road from the 
first ; our markets will be much increased ; every person 
who settles on the road must contribute something to 
Kingston ; he has already received some grain over this 
road ; he thinks it will divert a good deal of business 
from Perth and Brockville to Kingston ; thinks the city 
will be indirectly remunerated for the outlay ; if in the 
Council would have supported these roads ; the interest 
on the expenditure is of no consideration, in comparison 
to the indirect advantages." 

" In this opinion your Committee concur, whilst they 
feel justified, by the evidence before them, in adding, 
that they think when the road is completed from end to 
end, and a tew years have elapsed, it will pay a fair divi- 
dend on the cost of its construction." 

The beneficial eftect which this road Avould have in the 
opening up and settlmgthe country through which it passes 
and the large quantity of wild lands, certainly 200,000 
acres, it vdll bring into market for the poorer classes of 
emigrants who can no longer seek homes West of Belle- 
ville, from the high prices of land prevailing there, having 
been brought under the notice of the Minister of Agricul- 
ture by the President of the Company, that gentleman 
promptly made a grant of £1500 towards the completion 
of this road, from the colonization fund — an act of which ev- 
ery one will readily admit the propriety. 

In concluding their Report the Committee pays a well 



PRIZE ESSAY. 97 

merited compliment to a public spirited and enterprizing 
man, which it would be an injustice to omit: "In the 
" course of these enquiries 3'our Committee have not failed 
'• to remark, that the organization of ' The Kingston and 
"'Perth Road Company' and 'The Kingston and Phil- 
"'lipsville Road Company' are both mamlj attributable 
" to the exertions of Mr, Alderman McDonnell. They 
"have also observed that, for over a space of two years, his 
" time and attention have been given to the management 
" of these roads without stint; frequently, as it seems to 
" your Committee, to the prejudice of his private affairs. 
"That he has not hesitated to pledge his personal credit 
" on account of these roads to a large amount, and that these 
" exertions and sacrifices have been made without pecuniary 
"interests of any sort in the roads or the country into 
" which they lead." 

'' Your Committee desire to record their strong opinion 
" of the value of the services so rendered, and think that 
"their unselfish and public spirited character, and the suc- 
"cessful results which are attending them, entitle Mr. Mc- 
"Donnell to the gratitude and thanks of the people of 
"Kingston." 

GENERAL REMARKS. 

There is scarcely amongthe numerous roads mentioned, 
one, the drive along which does not afford very pleasing and 
pretty scenery. In some cases much more eulogistic terms 
might properly be applied to the prospects presented. Whe- 
ther the traveller selects the Eastern ci >urse to Kingston Mills 
and Glenburnie, or Westerly along the lake to Bath, or 
through Waterloo to Portland, or the Perth Road to 
Loughborough Lake, he cannot fail to find much that is 
calculated to please the eye, and delight the senses of a lover 
of the charms of nature and agricultural industry, and to 
be gratified at the evident marks of progress, of civiliza- 
tion, of comfort and contentment. The scenery he views 
is far more picturesque and varied than is usually the case in 
Canadian Districts, and the substantial farm houses, out- 
buildings, and fences, the extensive orchards, the well filled 
school houses, and numerous churches, mark the independ- 
ence and progress of the surrounding yeomanry, whilst the 
level and smooth road beneath his horses's feet adds not a 
little to his own comfort and safety. 

M 



PRIZE ESSAY, 



EDUCATION. 



Throughout these Counties are good school houses, 
numbering in all 72 ; many of them are of stone and al- 
most all are well built and contain airy and well ventilated 
school rooms ; each school section of five miles square has 
its school and school teacher, and each Township its Local 
Superintendent and a Board of Trustees, who manage the 
busmess of the section and report on the schools to the 
head of the educational dep rtment ; these have chiefly 
been organized since 1850, under the present school acts, 
and their success promises to be complete. The various 
Local Superintendents, with the Trustees of the County 
Grammar Schools, form a County Board of public instruction 
which grants certificates to teachers, who are not author- 
ised to teach without holding such certificate. The certifi- 
cates are renewable anunally, without further examination, 
save as to the continued good conduct of the holder. The 
constituted Board of Instruction is these Counties, is exact- 
ing from candidates a strict adherence to the published pro- 
gramme of qualification, and using every exertion to ensure 
a high standard of proficiency in the teacher. The influ- 
ence of the present system of education on the rising gener- 
ation, and through them on the future prospects of the 
Counties, is destined to be very great. The children of 
the yeomanry of these Counties, a generation back, whilst 
they enjoyed every comfort and abundant plenty were de- 
barred from the incalculable benefits of a sound education. 
This fact accounts in a very great measure for any appa- 
rent sluggishness that may have retarded the expected pro- 
gress of this part of the country. Whilst in newer settle- 
ments, the educated from other lands were introducing skill, 
knowledge and enterprise ; here, to a great extent, the son 
followed too closely the father's footsteps, nor looked be- 
yond the course others had run before him, save, that the 
stern purpose that actuated the forefather when he gave up 
the fair valleys of the Mohawk, to seek a new home in the 
wilderness ; the energy, perseverance and enterprise that 
had made that wilderness a smiling land, had almost died 
out in the succeeding generations, and the manly virtue 
and shrewd intelligence which he must have inherited, un- 
fostered by education, lay dormant and unexcited. They 
are now, however, awaking to a vigorous life, and cultiva- 
ted in the educational institutions afforded at almost every 



PRIZE ESSAY. 99 

tnau's door, and strengthened by tlieir exercise in tlie dis- 
charge of free municipal rights, they cannot fail to ensure 
for the people of these Counties, a bright and happy, and 
prosperous and successful future. 

AGRICULTURE, &C. 

The Agricultural productions of these Counties have 
been shown in the details given of the townships. Fall 
Wheat, in the . immediate vicinity of the lakes, has been 
found somewhat liable to be spring killed, and Spring 
Wheat has been there generally sown. Throughout the in- 
land townships, Fall Wheat succeeds well, and in Avell man- 
aged farms 40 or 45 bush, per acre are produced. There is 
no denying that the averaged yield of wheat is less than in 
some western counties ; it should be borne in mind, how- 
ever, that the oldest and best farms have, from causes al- 
ready stated, been injudiciously and improperly cropped, 
and have been producing grain crop upon grain crop, whilst 
western lands were still receiving the annual tribute of for- 
est leaves and decomposed boughs and trunks, to increase 
the depth and strength of their fertile soil. With manure 
and proper treatment, these lands will produce large jdelds 
of wheat, as has been successfully proved when fairly tried. 
Roots and vegetables are much more generally and exten- 
sively cultivated than in former years. In the neighbor- 
hood of the city, are now some very well cultivated vegeta- 
ble gardens, which contribute largely to our markets, and 
compete successfully at our exhibitions — Kingston having 
carried off all, or nearly all, of the prizes for vegetables for 
several years past at the Provincial Fairs. Of Fruit, there 
is an abundance of good apples, of all descriptions, pears, 
plums, cherries, and all the usual garden fruits, except 
peaches, which are not successfully grown. The vicinity 
to the American market makes them always very plentiful 
when in season, and they are bought nearly as cheap here 
as in New York — the care required to grow them is there- 
fore seldom bestowed. 

In Horticulture, a late exhibition proved that King- 
ston and its neighborhood could vie with other Canadian 
towns. A very general taste for house and hot-house 
plants and flowers prevails, and a very great variety of all 
kinds of valuable specimens are brought to great beauty 
and perfection. 

L.ofC. 



loo PRIZE ESSAY. 

PROVINCIAL EXHIBITION OF 1856. 

During the present season the Provincial Agricultural 
Fair will be held at Kingston, when visitors will find these 
Counties maintaining the character that has been claimed 
for them in these pages. Very extensive preparations are 
being made to ensure a creditable exhibition. For the 
first time in the Province, a permanent and elegant edifice 
is cracted for the purposes of the show ; a sort oi miniature 
Crystal Palace is fast verging towards completion, the 
sides of which are ' of glass, the roof, for the present, of 
shingles. The design is neat, and exhibits ranch taste and 
judgment ; the form that of a cross. Towards the expense 
of the building, the County Municipality has liberally con- 
tributed £500 from the County funds, whilst the different 
County Agricultural Societies have, with a very laudable 
spirit, given the amount of the grant intended and usually 
appropriated to their local fairs, X150 each, thus adding 
£450 to the £500. The City Council, evincing a corres- 

Eonding public spirit, granted £750, and a large sum has 
een made up by individual subscription, raising the whole 
amount to ujjwards of £2,000. The Governor General is 
expected to honor the exhibition with his presence, and 
every effort is being made to make it worthy of his atten- 
tion. The accessibility of Kingston from all parts of Ca- 
nada and the United States, will, no doubt, bring together 
a large number of visitors on this occasion. Then, it is 
trusted, that the claims of this section of Canada will be 
recognised, and credit given to it according to its deserts. 
Beyond this its advocates do not desire ; they are willing 
to take for their motto, that with which the writer concludes 
his remarks, and designates his far form faultless Essay.* 

PLANTS. 

Tamworfch, in Sheffield, is suid to be one of the best 

* Note. — The expectations of those interested in Kingston, were fully realised 
by the success of tlie late Exhibition. The Press, throughout the Province, ha3 
spDken highly of the spirit and enterprise exhibited in the buildings and gen- 
eral arrangements, and the Local Committee have been complimented for their 
exertions. The Counties maintained the charact.r claimed for them, and car- 
r'ed off a fair proportion of prizes, esp:cial!y for roots and vegetables. A largo 
cancourse of visitors thronged the city; the Governor General of the Province, 
the Governor of the adjoining State of New York, and other distinguished 
visitors, spoke in high terms of the display made ; and altogether, it is admit- 
ted that Kingston has suffered nothing by her competition with other cities on 
this occasion. 



PRIZE ESSAY. 101 

botanizing stations in the Province, except, of course, 
for sea and alpine plants ; that is o^ving, no doubt, to the 
varied surface of the country in the neighborhood, compris- 
ing, as it does, rivers, lakes, forests, and swampy lands, and 
very typical specimens of clay, loam and sandy soils. The 
following is a list of plants gathered during a few days stay 
at Tamworth, by a gentleman fond of the pursuit of botan- 
ical knowledge : — 

Plants found in the neighborhood o/J and roai to, Tarn- 
worth, Township of Sheffield. 

TAMWORTn. 

Zanthoxylon Americanum, Northern Prickly Ash. 
Symphytum Officinale, Common Comfrey. 

ROAD FROM TAMWORTH TO CLAIR RIVER, BY WHITE LAKE. 

Calla Palustris, Water Arum. 

Sarracenia Purpurea, Huntsman's Cup. 

Lonicera Ciliata, Fly Honeysuckle. 

Linnaea Borealis, Twin Flower. 

Viburnum Opulus, Cranberry Tree. 

Cypripedium Pubescens, Larger Lady's Slipper. 

Cypripedium Parviflorum, Smaller do. 

Ledum Latifolium, Labrador Tea. 

Viola Cucullata, Hoodleaved Violet. 

Gualtheria Procumbens, Creeping Wintergreen. 

Eanunculus Purshii, Yellow Water Crowfoot. 

Vaccinium Fuscatum, Black Bluebeny. 

Circaea Alpina, Enchanter's Nightshade. 

Pyrola Secunda, One-sided Pyrola. 

Trientalis Americana, Chickweed Wintergreen. 

Mitella Diphylla, Common Mitre Wort, 

Naumburgia Thyrsiflora, Tufted Loosestrife, 

Viburnum Acerifolium, Maple-leaved Arrow-wood, or 

Laurestinus. 
Rumex Hydrolapathum, Great Water Dock. 
Smilacina Trifolia, Three-leaved Solomon's Seal, 
Smilacina Bifolia, Two-leaved Solomon's Seal. 
Osmorrhiza Brevistylis, Hairy Sweet Cicely. 
Polygonatum Pubescens, Smaller Solomon's Seal. 
Aralia Nudicaulis, Wild Sarsaparilla. 
Ampelopsis Quinquefolia, Virginian Creeper, 



102 VIUZK ESSAY. 

Hydrophjdluni V irginicuin, Virgin ian \Yaterleaf. 
Adiaiituin Pedatum, Maidenhair. 
Corims Stolonifera, Ked Osier Coruel, 
Osmunda Spectabilis, Flowering Fern. 
Lonicra Ol^longifolia, Swamp Fly Honeysuckle. 
Dryopteris Goldiana, Woodfern. 
Yitis Labrusca, Northern Fox-grape. 
Pteris Aquilina, Common Brake. 
Chimaphila ITmbellata, Prince's Pine. 
Corjdus Rostrata, Beaked Hazel Nut. 
Solanum Dulcamara, Bittersweet. 

ROAD FROM TAMWORTH TO GULL LAKE. 

Clinopodium Vulgare, Pasil. Aralia Racemosa, Spikenard. 

Pyrola Glilorantha, Small Pyrola. 

Medeola Virginica, Indian Cucumber Root. 

Silene Noctiflora, Niglitflowering Catchfl}^ 

Clintonia Borealis, Clintonia. 

Arum Triphyllum, Indian Turnip. 

Anemone Penns3dvanica, Pennsylvanian Anemone. 

Cornptonia Asplenifolia, Sweetfern. 

Fragaria Virginiana, ] ^^.^^ Strawberry. 

jbragana Vesca, j -^ 

Potentilla Canadensis, Cinquefoil, or Fivefinger. 

Menyanthes Trifoliata, Bogbean, or Trefoil. 

Eubus Villosus, Common, or High Blackberry. 

Uvularia Perfoliata, Bellwort. 

Viola Pubescens, Downy Yellow Violet. 

Symphoricarpus Occidentalis, Wolf berry. 

Diervilla Trilida, Bush Honeysuckle. 

Polygonum Cilinode, Fringe-jointed False Buckwheat. 

Corydalis Grlauca, Pale Corydalis. 

Lycopodium Dendroideum, Ground Pine. 

Equisetum Limosum, Horsetail. 

Geranium Carolinianum, Carolina Crane's bill. 

Prinos Yerticillatus, Black Alder. 

Cornus Canadensis, Dwarf Cornel. 

ROAD FROM CENTREVILLE TO TAMWORTH. 

Calmia Angustifolia, Sheep Laurel. 

NAPANEE RIVER. 

Thalictrum Cornuti, Meadow Rue. 
Oxalis Stricta, Yellow Wood Sorrel. 
Leonurus Cardiaca, Common Motherwort. 



PKIZK KSSAY', 



103 



LIST OF POST OFFICES IN THE UNITED COUNTIES. 



Township of Pittsburgh. 
Kingston Mills, 
Birmingham's, 
Brewer's Mills. 

lownship of Kingston. 

City of Kingston, 

Waterloo, 

Merrill's Coi'uers, Elginsburg, 

Collins' Bay, or Collinsby. 
Township of Ernesttown. 

Mill Haven, 

Mill Creek, or Odessa, 

Comer's Mills, 

Wilton, 

Bath, 

Morvin, 

Switzerville. 
Toiunship of Camden. 

Newburgh, 

Colebrook, 

Centreville, 

Moscow, 

Enterprize, 

Crojdeu, 
Township of Richmond. 

Napanee, 

Mill Point, 

Selby, 

Koblin. 
Township of Bedford. 

Fermoy. 
Township of Sheffield. 

Clareview, 

Erinsville, 

Tamworth. 

To-nship of Amherst Island. 
Post Office. 



To !i nsh ip of A dolphustoion. 
Adolphustown, 
Lennox, 
Gosport, 
Gretna. 

Township of Fredericksburg. 

Fredericksburg, 

Hamburg, 

Sillsville. 

Township of Storrington 
Storrington, 
Battersea. 



Township of Loughborough. 
Loughborough, 
Eailtou. 



Township of Portland. 
Spikes' Corners, 
Murvale. 



Township of Kahdar. 
Kaladar, 
Township of Hinchinbroohe. 
Dennistowu. 



Township of Wolfe Island, 
Post Office. 



104 



PRIZE ESSAY. 






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PRIZE ESSAY. 105 



CONCLUSION 



Thus are, somewhat rudely, perhaps, thro^vn together,, 
such facts and considerations relating to Kingston and 
environs, as were deemed most likely to interest and inform 
strangers, travellers, or emigrants. Its centralization, it& 
salubrity, its beauty of scenery, its trade and commerce,, 
and its most evident prospects, have all been dwelt on, and 
any drawback it possesses has not been hidden. It has 
been shewn that the temporary cheek created by the re- 
moval of the Seat of Government, has been not only re- 
covered from, but a re-action creating new vigour and 
energy in public enterprise taken place, and that the trade 
diverted by the St. Lawrence Canals has returned to our 
wharves, with every prospect o£ an increase to its extent. 
The writer has been content generally to confine himselt 
to statement of facts, leaving the reader to draw his own 
deductions and to judge for himself of the destiny and pros- 
pects of the Counties from this statement. In the space 
allotted, it has been difficult to compress all that can be 
said on the subject, and little more could be done than to- 
suggest what the future of " Cataraqui'' will undoubtedly 
shew. Circumstances, of a temporar}- character, have lor a 
while retarded its progress, and lands and properties are 
held at present at a much lower rate than the speculation 
prices demanded in the West, but the real intrinsic worth 
of property in this neighborhood is being rapidly discover- 
ed, and settlers of the better sort are eagerly buying im- 
proved farms in the old settled Townships, and wild lands 
in the remoter ones. Such shrewd purchasers know well 
what they are about, and that they will realise a handsome 
profit, if desirous to sell, or acquire a homestead at a chea|) 
rate, if such is the object. No one who gives the subject 
an impartial consideration can doubt that the day will soon 
arrive, when this, the nucleus from which may be said to 
have sprung the settlement of British Canada, will occupy 
undisputed, the position to which its real resources, claims,, 
and advantages, entitle it, (^r that every day that brings 
the relative claims of rival Cities or Towns into notice, will 
hasten that period. To be appreciated^ Kingston and the 
Counties, need only to be known. 

ESSE QUAM YlDJKKl. 



fiov-3^^' 



